San Maung Than — A signboard profiling independent candidate U Ba Khi, also known as U Aung Min Oo, was vandalized last weekend in Arakan State’s Pauktaw Township.
“The signboard was vandalized on October 10th. It was erected inside the library grounds opposite U Maung Seit tea shop. My signboard is big compared to other signboards. I suspect that it was intentionally destroyed,” U Aung Min Oo told Narinjara News.
U Aung Min Oo is running in Pauktaw Township’s State Parliament Constituency No 1.
He has reported the incident to the Pauktaw Myoma Police Station and the Township Commission office via telephone.
“There were difficulties at first when I started the campaign because parties have told the public that independent candidates can’t form government as they have no parties to back them and the government has given them money to break up the National Party and the Arakan national unity. Such kind of things has been said in nearly every village,” U Aung Min Oo explained.
Pauktaw Township Election Commission’s chairman U Chit Sein confirmed that the signboard had been vandalized. The perpetrators of this apparent act of sabotage remain unknown.
“It is true that it has been vandalized, but we haven’t received any reports yet. The candidate said he will report this to the Township Election Commission and the District Election Commission so we are staying neutral,” U Chit Sein told Narinjara News.
Pauktaw Township’s State Constituency No 1, where U Aung Min Oo is running, has 34 village tracts and 65 villages. The determined independent candidate told Narinjara News that he has 17 villages left to campaign in.
Translated by Thida Linn with editing by BNI staff.
