People have been avoiding attending election rallies of the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP), which started campaigning on 23 September, after authorities started disturbing people, said party chairman, Dr. Aye Maung.

Speaking to Narinjara over telephone, he said, "We started our party's campaign for votes in Aung Mingala Village in Sittwe Township on 23 September, but many villagers avoided the rally because authorities were taking photographs of those who were there."

However, over 200 villagers, mostly women, did attend the rally in spite of the authorities taking photographs.

"We had hoped many people would attend the rally, but not more than 200 people attended because many elders in the village avoided it out of fear of retribution by the authorities," Dr. Aye said.

A plainclothes police officer and the village chairman took photographs during the rally, but no one knows the reason why they were photographing those attending.

According to local sources, if the election is fair and free, the current government-backed USDP would be unable to win in Arakan State because few people willingly support the party. The RNDP, on the other hand, has the potential to win in many of the constituencies in Arakan State, and because of this, the authorities have been threatening people to keep them from supporting the Rakhine party, the elder said.

On 24 September, the RNDP held its second rally for votes at Maung Ni Bying Village on the outskirts of Sittwe, where the authorities also took photographs of those attending.

Many villagers avoided attending that rally because of the presence of officials. A few intelligence, police, and village council officials closely watched the rally and took photographs.

"We held two rallies in Sittwe Township, but we could not hold the rallies freely because of the disturbance by authorities. Sittwe, where the incident took place, is the capital of Arakan State. In the rural areas of Arakan it will be even harder to canvass for votes than Sittwe," Dr Aye added.

Local authorities in Arakan State reportedly fully support the USDP. The people of Arakan doubt the election will be free and fair, as the government has backed the USDP and is not neutral.