In the latest turmoil to strike the Arakan National Party (ANP), chair U Aye Maung submitted his resignation this week, prompting the central executive committee into a flurry of activity to ensure the country’s most prominent ethnic political party is not left rudderless.
“Since the party’s chairman has submitted his resignation letter, the party’s central executive committee will have to call a meeting and decide [whether to accep it]. We may have to call central committee meeting if necessary,” said ANP secretary U Thar Tun Hla. He added that a date for the meeting has not yet been decided.
Daw Aye Nu Sein, vice chair of the ANP, confirmed receipt of the resignation letter, but declined to comment further.
In his notice, U Aye Maung pointed to a lack of unity between the party’s leadership and rank-and-file, as well as divisions between various factions of the party.
“I would like to inform [the party] that I have resolved to join hands with my friends and do my utmost to carry out Rakhine national duties as a nationalist until my death,” his letter reads.
Taking a parting shot, Aye Maung also accused members of the party of planning coordinated social media attacks, including some targeting him. He demanded the party release expense reports for its 2015 national election campaign, as well as for donations made to civilians displaced by conflict in Rakhine.
The ANP was formed in a 2015 merger of two ethnic Rakhine parties, the Arakan League for Democracy (ALD) and the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP).
The combined coalition emerged as one of the most successful ethnic parties in the 2015 national election, earning 12 seats in the Pyithu Hluttaw, 10 in the Amyotha Hluttaw, and 22 in the Rakhine State Hluttaw, just short two short of a majority.
But since the election, the party has been riven by internal strife. Six senior officials were expelled in March 2016, and in July 2017 former ALD members announced their intention to leave and reregister as the ALD, due to policy disagreements with the RNDP faction, which had been more closely aligned to the former ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party. The ALD cadre also accused RNDP members of receiving preferential treatment for government posts.
When Narinjara News attempted to contact U Aye Maung, his phone was turned off and the door to his home in Sittwe was shut.
U Aye Maung, formerly a Pyithu Hluttaw MP for Manaung township, once had his sights set on the Rakhine State chief minister post. He lost his seat in a surprise upset in the 2015 election before regaining a seat representing Ann township in the 2017 by-election.
