You are campaigning in Bahan to raise awareness about the YCDC election in December. Why is your campaign necessary?

We want to let potential voters know they can register as a voter or candidate. Candidates have to register before 19th October, but the public doesn’t know this. For candidates there are many criteria. It’s very strict. You must have lived in your township for ten years. Another restriction is you have to be of ‘good moral character’. What is that? Anybody can object to candidates on arbitrary grounds. Who can run and vote is ultimately decided by the township authorities. The law stipulates that the township election commission should comprise of independent civilians, but in practice in bahan all five members are township officials. The problem is they are influenced the USDP [the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party]. I am unhappy about that.

During a parliamentary session in August you criticised new rules drafted by the YCDC for the municipal elections. They provided for 1.5 percent of registered families to be eligible to vote and for the 1.5 percent to be decided by a five-member election commission, of whom four would be township officials. But early this month the rules were changed to make one person in every family eligible to vote. An improvement?

The rules are still problematic. Families must have a family registration certificate. Most families in Yangon don’t have this. Bahan has about 60,000 inhabitants, out of which 600 families qualify. So only 600 people can vote. It is better than the former system, but not enough.

The YCDC claimed it wanted to cut costs and that a truly democratic election would be too expensive. In the meantime, it earns and spends hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Can you as a lawmaker hold the YCDC accountable?

No one can check their activities, their projects. This year we approved about 200 billion kyats [USD 200 million] in YCDC expenditures. We don’t know if they spent this money properly. They report to the chief minister, not to parliament, but he hardly ever takes action. Many times I asked in parliament who is responsible. Some projects are halted before completion. Where has the money gone? We don’t know.

Is there anything the regional parliament can do to make the YCDC accountable? How much power does the regional parliament have?

It is not easy. The speaker of the region parliament served with the chief minister in the Tatmadaw. He was junior to him in his army days. Sometimes during sessions the speaker will ask the chief minister for permission. That is not according to the law. According to the law we only have to obey our own regulations, we don’t have to ask the chief minister for his opinion. It happens often that the region government makes objections to our activities, for example when we wanted to form a parliamentary committee to check the government. We only have three committees now. I tried to found a public finance committee to check on YCDC’s activities, but the speaker did not allow it when the chief minister objected.

As well as spending money, the YCDC makes money by selling land and participating in big development projects. Are you able to monitor these projects?

Officially they report how much they earn every year. These reports are very general. We don’t know about land prices or how much land the YCDC actually owns or sells. We just get a total figure. The only thing I can do is ask questions about their projects, again and again. Voters can suggest questions to me and I will ask them in parliament. Sometimes they answer, sometimes they don’t. Even if they answer, the answers are vague at best.

What is your view on corruption?

I think there may be many corruption cases that we don’t know about because of lack of transparency. Upper house [Amyotha Hluttaw] Speaker U Khin Aung Myint last month commented that money is being wasted by people pocketing money for themselves at all levels. At the end of the road there is not much left, he said, even though the government has increased budgets. Minister of information and government spokesman U Ye Htut critised the Speaker for pointing this out. He said: “If you have official data, you can submit it to the anti-corruption commission.”

How can politicians in Myanmar combat corruption?

We should push the government by asking questions. Some parliamentarians get easily disheartened. They give up, also because they are pressured to stop. We need more brave and hard working parliamentarians to change that, who are financially independent as well, so they don’t have to rely on the government for their livelihood. I am economically independent. That allows me to be a clean politician.

Corruption is a sensitive issue. Do you fear for your safety?

Of course I am afraid, but it is my responsibility to speak out. There’s only fourteen opposition MPs in the Yangon region parliament and I am the only one with a doctor of laws degree. USDP parliamentarians only listen to the Chief Minister. If I were to do that I would be disloyal to my people. So yes, I am taking a risk. But what else am I to do?

As an MP in the Pyithu Hluttaw or Amyotha Hluttaw you might have more influence. Do you intend to run for a seat in the Union parliament in 2015?

I am not that interested in Union level issues, like changing the constitution. What I want to do is work on issues that change local people’s lives. Our country is rich, but at the grassroots level people are poor. They are poor and are still being abused by local authorities. I might decide to run for a national seat. Because of the change to a proportional representation system I need to join a large party, or I might not run at all next year.