“When we get to attend training courses, we will work on making our demands and cooperate after inquiring about headquarters’ views,” said U Ho Pin, the NLD’s chairman for Tanintharyi Region.
Dawei, Karen, Mon, and Burmese people are the largest ethnic groups found in Tanintharyi Region.  

There are two ethnic parties in the region, the Karen Party and the DNP.   U Ho Pin says that the NLD is already cooperating with the DNP on issues pertaining to Dawei national affairs.

“We had a good relationship with ethnic parties in the past so we will submit to the headquarters to ask for instructions on how to proceed,” U Ho Pin added.

Although the DNP did not win any seat during the last election, it has continued to advocate for Dawei ethnic affairs.  The party has indicated that it is willing to cooperate with the NLD, the party’s chairman U Aye Min told BNI Election Newsroom.

“We are ready to cooperate for national and regional development if they make an offer. Currently, we are working for local issues even though we didn’t win,” said U Aye Min.

Tanintharyi’s environment has undergone major changes in recent years, thanks in part to the arrival of large scale palm oil and rubber plantations which have replaced small scale farms.  The area is set to change rapidly because of a deep sea port project that is currently underway in Dawei.  The project which is still in its early stages has been met with opposition from local people in the area who are concerned about land grabbing and the environmental impact of a planned special economic zone set to be built next to the port.  Large scale gold, coal and other forms of mining in Tanintharyi have also become a major point of concern for environmentalists in recent years.