The military council has yet to announce the date of the election, but there are up to 63 political parties that have applied for party registration with the junta’s Union Election Commission (UEC) to run the upcoming election.
There are 12 parties that will organize nationwide and 51 parties that will organize only within a region or state, and the UEC announced on March 28 that they are verifying the establishment and registration of these parties.
The military council previously promised to hold elections by August 2023, after the 2-year term of the state of emergency, but until today, the exact date of the elections had not been announced.
General Zaw Min Tun, the spokesman for the military council, told reporters at the ceremony for Armed Forces Day on March 27 that it is not yet possible to say exactly when the election will be held due to the internal and security situation.
An election observer opined that the military council’s failure to announce the exact date of the election under the pretext of peace and insecurity is to maintain power for the next 20 years.
The military council, which arrested the elected leaders on allegations of vote fraud at the 2020 election and seized power by force, has always said that it will hold elections after the state of emergency and hand over power to the winning party.
However, the junta UEC announced on March 28 that it has added 10 election-related items,including ballot boxes, to the list for the next fiscal year, which will be purchased through a tender system.
On the other hand, the military council announced that 40 existing political parties that did not apply for party registration within 60 days were dissolved in accordance with Article 25 of the Political Parties Registration Law.
Some of the political parties ,that were dissolved, joined other parties and registered with the junta UEC under a new name, while there are also parties that join other parties to form a new one.
Among the political parties that have been dissolved are the National League for Democracy (NLD), the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), the Chin National League for Democracy, the Karen People’s Party (KPP), the Lahu National Development Party (LNDP), the Kayan National Party, the Ta-ang (Palaung) National Party (TNP), and the Kayah State Democratic Party, which won the 2020 election.
U Pe Than, a veteran politician who won the election twice in a row, remarked that if the party is registered in order to keep the party and to avoid confiscation of the party's belongings when it is uncertain whether the election will be held, it will amount to supporting the military coup.
According to Article 20(a) of the Political Party Registration Law, whether a party dissolves unilaterally or its registration is revoked by law, the party’s belongings must be transferred in the prescribed manner to the department or organization designated by the authorities.
U Bo Bo Oo, vice chairman of NLD-Sanchaung Township, told Than Lwin Times that the NLD is a party that will always exist as long as people exist, and that only justice can prevail in the face of injustice.
The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on March 29 that the dissolution of the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by public leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained since the coup, and removing the party from politics will make it more difficult to resolve the Myanmar issue.
The Japanese government has strongly urged the military regime to immediately release the NLD leaders, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and to resolve the conflict peacefully with all concerned parties.
