Pauktaw: The Burmese Union Election Commission has affronted voters by disregarding their desires and votes in the last elections, said the members of the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party and their supporters from Pauktaw in western Burma’s Arakan State.
The allegation by members and supporters of the party came after a jury of the tribunal of the Election Commission ruled against U Aung Kyaw Zan, the Member of the People’s Parliament who won a seat with overwhelming votes from the area, in favor of his rival from the Union Solidarity and Development Party in a case of election fraud.
According to the official data, U Aung Kyaw Zan won 30,550 votes while his rival U Tun Aung Khine received 11,550 votes for the seat of the People’s Parliament for Pauktaw Township in elections held on November 7, 2010.
The judgment of the tribunal of the EC that defeated U Aung Kyaw Zan, who has won enthusiastic support in the election, sparked anger and dissatisfaction amongst the young members of the party and his voters, said the secretary of the party in Pauktaw Township.
“Many people from the area have been coming to our office here and asking questions about why the EC has ruled against him in the case and how the party will react to that unfair judgment. They even told us that they are with the party and ready to act with the party. Now we are under pressure as we are very busy dealing with the matter”, said the secretary.
He said that the party office in Pauktaw is waiting for decisions and directives from the central office on how to react to the matter.
The number of critics of the decision are growing amongst the general people in the township. They say that the EC does not have enough power to resist pressure by the USDP, the nominally leading party in the present government, and can therefore act without regarding peoples’ desires and votes.
Three MPs from the RNDP in Pauktaw Township had cases filed against them in the EC earlier this year, by rivals from the USDP on charges of using fraud to win elections. The jury of the EC, in its final hearing on the case on 9 September, ruled against U Aung Kyaw Zan, the elected member of the People’s Parliament, but did also side with U Kyaw Tun Aung, the elected member of National Parliament and U Maung Kyaw Thein, the elected member of the State Parliament.
The members of the People’s Parliament and National Parliament from the RNDP have denounced and objected to the judgment of the tribunal of the EC and the loss of their colleague U Aung Kyaw Zan from office by issuing a statement on September 9, 2011.
