Two unexploded grenades found at election official’s Naypyitaw home

Police removed two unexploded hand grenades from the home of a Union Election Commission (UEC) official in Naypyitaw over the weekend, just hours after the commission rejected calls from opposition parties to postpone polling day.

The grenades appear to have been lobbed from the street into the Dekkina Thiri township compound of the city’s sub-commission chair, Thein Htwe.

Police and bomb disposal experts removed the first grenade on Saturday evening and found the second on Sunday at noon after reviewing CCTV footage. 

Thein Htwe has not commented on the incident.

The attack came almost immediately after UEC chair Hla Thein announced on Saturday that Myanmar’s November 8 poll would go ahead as planned despite the recent outbreak of Covid-19 infections, which has prompted lockdowns in Yangon and Rakhine state. 

The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and 24 other parties wrote to the UEC on September 15 to request a postponement, arguing the surge in cases meant it was not the right time to hold an election.

Myanmar has recorded 5,805 cases and 94 deaths from the virus, the vast majority in the past month.

The ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) has argued against postponing the poll.

“We have had some internal discussions on urgent issues related to the Covid-19 pandemic and the election. For the time being, we see no adequate reason to postpone the election,” said NLD spokesperson Dr Myo Nyunt.

Last month 34 opposition parties, led by the USDP, met with commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyitaw. 

One party leader asked for his help to “reshuffle” Hla Thein from his post as UEC chair, said Kyaw Swa Soe, who is chair of the Myanmar Farmers Development Party and attended the meeting.

“Other political parties’ leaders also questioned what the Tatmadaw can do if the general election in November is not free and fair,” he told the Irrawaddy.