Salai Kyaw Moe, Chin World — Although the Union Election Commission (UEC)’s chairman U Tin Aye has suggested that a postponement was required for the 2015 General Election due to flooding in some areas like Chin State, the election will continue on schedule.
The UEC’s chairman addressed the issue during a meeting with political parties held in Nay Pyi Taw last week. He cited the flooding and landslides that hit both Kayah State and Chin State recently as the reason the election should be postponed, according to political party representatives who attended the meeting.
The National League for Democracy (NLD) objected to U Tin Aye’s proposal while the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), the National Development Party, and the Myanmar Farmers’ Development Party supported it.
“When the UEC was asked to postpone the election in the past, it wasn’t postponed but now all the candidates have already started campaigning. A lot of money has been spent. It’s unreasonable to postpone it now,” said Aung Lane, Secretary of the Chin League for Democracy.
The Chin Democracy Party submitted a proposal to postpone the election during last months meeting between the political parties and the UEC in Yangon, but no discussions were held on the subject.
The UEC announced last Thursday that the general election will be held on schedule on November 8th without any postponements after reviewing the possible negative effects posed by a possible delay.
Translated by Thida Linn with editing by BNI staff.
