Union elections will take place in 2020, a Union Election Commission (UEC) spokesperson has said.
Myint Naing told an MRTV interview on a May 4 broadcast that, despite concerns over the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, elections must be held this year.
It is a divisive issue among Myanmar’s many political parties. Some say holding elections while large gatherings are banned will give the upper hand to the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), as smaller parties will have a tougher time getting their message out.
The NLD government’s efforts to support out-of-work laborers during the Covid-19 pandemic can appear as its own form of campaigning, while out-of-power parties can do little campaigning of their own at the moment, said Thein Htun Oo, spokesperson for the opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party.
“The ruling party has a lot of advantages right now,” he told Myanmar Now.
He declined to offer an alternate date for the elections, saying only that “public health should be the top priority.”
Dr Myo Nyunt, an NLD central executive committee member, declined to weigh in but said his party will strictly follow the commission’s decision.
Other party officials told Myanmar Now that, if elections do need to be delayed because of the pandemic, delays should not last more than a few months.
“If the next government and parliament are not ready to assume office by the time the current term expires, there will be political instability” said Thet Thet Khine, a former NLD member who left the party and since become chairwoman of the People’s Pioneer Party.
Sai Nyunt Lwin, vice president of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, agreed.
“Other than postponing it a month or two, it must still happen,” he told Myanmar Now. “We can’t avoid it.”
Both noted that the current constitution offers no way forward if a five-year term expires without another election being held.
“Major campaigns can only be done through online or traditional media since gatherings are limited to five people,” Thet Thet Khine said.
Sai Nyunt Lwin worried that only larger parties would have the resources to effectively get their messages out through a social media campaign.
On May 1, president’s office spokesperson Zaw Htay said in a virtual press conference that elections will likely be held in November 2020, but the decision is ultimately up to the UEC.
