Khine Nwe Oo — Daw Aung San Suu Kyi criticized some of her fellow National League for Democracy (NLD) candidates that exceeded the spending limit of 5 million kyats (about US$3,843) during campaigning in the recent election. But NLD candidate U Ho Pin that won a state seat for Dawei Constituency No 2 in Tanintharyi Region said her remarks weren’t directed at everyone.
“There were higher costs for campaigning in the more remote areas. I think she meant that some candidates overspent in city centres like Mandalay,” he said. Campaign expenditures for Dawei exceeded the allotted amount of 5 million kyats, higher than in Myeik and Kawthoung.
U Ho Pin said after the total costs for Dawei are calculated they will be submitted to the Union Election Commission before the deadline of Dec. 1.
“Campaign costs in Dawei were more due to a concert (the NLD organized). It’s also very far to travel on the roads. In other areas campaigning costs were only around 2 million kyats (about US $1,537). The headquarters haven’t talked to us about what we spent and we haven’t submitted our expenditures to them yet,” he told the BNI Election Newsroom.
In nearby Mon State, NLD candidates are also calculating campaigning costs. However, U Aye Min Han, NLD information officer for Mon State, remarked that the total spending for all state candidates combined won’t exceed 10 million kyats (about US $7,686).
Translated by Thida Linn
Edited by BNI staff
