Myanmar regime bars major Rakhine party from planned elections

The party that won the largest number of seats in Rakhine State in Myanmar’s last two elections will not be allowed to run again next year, the junta-controlled Union Election Commission (UEC) announced on Monday. The Arakan National Party (ANP), formed in June 2013 from two rival Rakhine nationalist parties, has been denied registration due to its alleged ties to a “terrorist” organisation, the UEC said. The ruling, based on Section 7 of the Political Parties Registration Law, which prohibits parties from communicating directly or indirectly with armed organisations that oppose the state, did not specify who the ANP is accused of being associated with. Khaing Pyi Soe, the party’s general secretary, said that the regime likely suspects that it is involved with the Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic armed group that has been waging a major offensive in the state since late last year. “They probably see us as being associated with the AA. However, those in our party who wanted to pursue armed revolution did so, and those who chose to operate as a political party have remained in that role,” he said. According to the ANP leader, former Mrauk-U MP Oo Hla Saw, who currently serves as a political officer for the AA, is no longer a member of the party. Others who have joined the armed group have also resigned from the ANP, he said. He added that none of the 25 proposed candidates that the party put forward to contest elections slated for next year is in any way connected to the AA. “They could have told us from the start that we might be in violation of some rules, but they didn’t,” he said, noting that all of the ANP’s candidates have paid their registration fees and submitted extensive documentation. On social media, accounts linked to the junta have defended the UEC’s decision, saying that there are clear ties between the ANP and the AA. “In the coming days, the Rakhine media will shout that [the UEC’s decision] is unfair and lacks transparency. They can shout as much as they like, it won’t make any difference. Former MPs from the ANP are now serving as political officers and organisers for AA terrorists,” wrote one Telegram user named Min Chit Oo. Asked if the ANP would reapply under another name, Khaing Pyi Soe told Myanmar Now that the party was now considering its next move. “There is severe tension between the two sides,” he said, referring to the conflict between the military and the AA. “This makes the role of political parties more difficult, so we need to think carefully about our options.” Despite the regime’s rejection of the ANP as a party, it has close ties to at least one of its senior members. Aye Nu Sein, who served on the party’s policy board, was appointed to the military council soon after it seized power in February 2021. In March 2022, the ANP requested the resignation of both Aye Nu Sein and Oo Hla Saw, who became a representative for the AA’s political wing, the United League of Arakan. The AA currently controls Rakhine State’s Myebon, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw, Pauktaw, Ramree, Ponnagyun, Rathedaung, and Buthidaung townships, as well as Paletwa Township in neighbouring Chin State. Its latest attacks have targeted junta bases in Ann, Maungdaw, and Thandwe townships in the north and south of the state, and clashes have also been reported in Kyaukphyu Township. Sittwe, the state capital, is currently under siege and could be the next to be captured, according to sources. The AA has vowed to take full control of the state’s 17 townships. In April, it rebranded itself as the “Arakha Army” as a show of its interest in representing all of the state’s ethnic communities, not only the Rakhine Buddhist majority. Last month, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing announced that his regime would hold elections next year, despite the civil war that has raged across much of the country since its elected civilian government was ousted three years ago.

Myanmar regime bars major Rakhine party from planned elections

The junta’s election commission accuses the Arakan National Party, which dominated Rakhine State in the last two elections, of having ties to the Arakan Army

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