Election
- News
Can soldiers vote in Myanmar elections without fear?
At the end of a day’s training in a vast military compound in the suburbs of Yangon, Corporal Khin Maung Than and three of his fellow comrades stepped out of a lush paddy field, their green uniforms coated with mud. The soldiers had recently arrived in the city from different army regiments across Myanmar for a training course on agricultural techniques. Asked how they were going to vote in the parliamentary elections on Nov.8 and if they felt they could make a free choice, none of them came up with a clear answer. “We haven’t been told which party to vote for,” said Khin Maung Than, 52, who has served in the army for 35 years. He said he had no idea whether he would be able to vote because he had to leave his national identity card, needed on polling day, back with his regiment. “Maybe I will send the name of the party I want to vote for in a phone message to someone back in my mother regiment,” he said hopefully. One of his fellow comrades said that the commander of his regiment would probably vote on his behalf. Another besides him grew angry at the questioning,…
- Myanmar
“Some people are surprised our party has survived”
Phyu Phyu Nyunt is a Yangon Region parliament candidate for the National Unity Party (NUP) in Mingalar Taung Nyunt Township’s constituency 2. She has worked in the Ministry of Cooperatives and as a lawyer. Way back in 1977, the now 61-year-old candidate joined the Burma Socialist Programme Party of former strongman Ne Win. The BSPP was replaced by the NUP ahead of the 1990 elections, in which the NUP suffered a crushing defeat by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy. The election result was ignored by the army. In the 1990s, the junta made the Union Solidarity and Development Association its main political vehicle, it became the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in 2010. Yet, the NUP is still around, it controls a total of 64 parliament seats won in the flawed 2010 polls and often supports the USDP. The party has 774 candidates contesting in this year’s elections and has hundreds of party offices across Myanmar. Phyu Phyu Nyunt spoke with Myanmar Now reporter Ei Cherry Aung about her party’s campaign and the situation in her constituency, as well as her proposal to curb online vice and increase punishments for crime. Question: Why did you…
- Myanmar
Myanmar’s new nationalist party surges into election race
With just weeks before Myanmar’s landmark elections, a fleet of cars covered with stickers of the National Development Party carrying flag-waving party supporters and Buddhist monks crawled through the streets of Mawlamyine, Mon state’s capital. The convoy was heading to the Strand Hotel on the banks of the Thanlwin River. Most party faithful were wearing white T-shirts emblazoned with the NDP’s symbol – a golden dancing peacock – some of the shirts also bore the slogan ‘racial protection law has come into effect!’ The NDP only became an official political party in early July 2015, but the Buddhist nationalist party has surged into contention in Myanmar politics, ranking fourth among political parties in terms of both funding and numbers of candidates fielded for the Nov.8 poll. On the lawn of the Strand Hotel, some 60 monks were assembled, many from the Maha Myaing Monastery and Myazedi (Yekyaung) Monastery, believed to be the cradle of the radical Buddhist group Ma Ba Tha. Behind them gathered hundreds more people, listening intently to the speakers. “Around the world, every country, its people and religions, focus on their own interest. So it is out of the question that we do not safeguard and protect…
- Myanmar
Amending the constitution? We’ll try our best
Mi Kon Chan comes from a distinguished family in Mon state in eastern Myanmar. Her father is the vice -chairman of the Mon National Party, Naing Thet Lwin. Yet she is running for a Lower House seat in the Nov. 8 elections as a representative of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party. Myanmar Now reporter Phyo Thiha Cho spoke to the former businesswoman, Mi Kon Chan used to run a company distributing cosmetic products from abroad, on the campaign trail in Mon State about why she eschewedher father’s party and her political aspirations. Question – As the daughter of a Mon political leader, why are you running for the NLD? Answer – I have not been part of my father’s party from the start. I would assist him when needed. That’s all. I’ve been steadfastly working on the issues concerning Mon people. If we want the country to change, all the ethnic groups should get involved. We are helping to create a federal union. This is not about getting a high position, nor is it also to attack or compete with our own people. We don’t plan to make enemies in the future either. Q – There are three…
- Myanmar
Voices of Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand
It is estimated that 2.5 to 3 million Myanmar workers are toiling away in Thailand, at least half a million of whom are in Samut Sakhon alone, a province next to Bangkok. Yet only around 3,000 voters have registered for advance voting at the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok, Win Maung, Myanmar’s ambassador to Thailand, told Myanmar Now in a telephone interview. The low figures are a result of many factors – a lack of awareness and information about voter registration procedures, a lack of trust in government officials, busy work schedules and travel restrictions placed on migrant workers. Myanmar Now spoke to migrant workers who expressed their desire to vote but are either unable to do so or do not know how to. Kyaw Lwin Maung, 36, from Kayin state, works in a tyre factory in Mahachai “I’ve been here for over 2 years now. I have not checked the voter list to see whether my name is there. But I’m wondering whether I should go back or not. If my name is in the voter list, I’d like to go back. “But I cannot go back without permission from the workplace. Otherwise I would be sacked. “It doesn’t take…
