Voters in no less than 11 townships in Kachin State were denied the chance to exercise their democratic rights by the UEC cancellations. Ethnic-based parties now welcome the opportunity of by-elections coming up soon.
According to UEC official results the strongest ethnic party the Kachin State Peoples’ Party fell far short of expectations. the NLD secured up to 51 seats in Kachin State, the USDP, 10, the KSPP, four, the New Democracy Party (Kachin), two, the SNLD, one, the Lisu National Development Party (Dulay Party), one and one independent candidate
The pre-election optimism that ethnic Kachin people would gain a major say in both local and national parliaments has been dashed by a combination of factors including covd-19 restrictions, and allegedly systematic Bamar bias of the UEC- the National Elections Commission which favoured the NLD when they voting in townships where KSPP were viewed as favourites to win. it wasn't a free and fair election according to Gumgrawng Awng Hkam, vice chairman of the Kachin State People's Party(KSPP)
Now Kachin-based ethnic parties will have a chance to compete in the upcoming by-elections. Here are some interviews with the leaders of the ethnic parties based in Kachin State on their preparations to achieve success in the by-elections.
Dr. Ma Nam Tu Ja, Chair of the Kachin State People’s Party (KSPP)
The formation of our party aims to serve the interests of the people and the State. Our party competed in the election for the first time. We will have to draw lessons from it. We will repair our weaknesses and make reforms. Our party had to do preparations for the elections in a short period of time.
We were very weak in doing canvassing due to the resurgence of Coronavirus. The big parties based in Bamar-lowland Myanmar slandered our party. We were very weak in countering this disinformation in the few weeks before election day.
The next point is the number of migrant workers and military service personnel who had never been residents or belong in any way to Kachin State, sometimes exceeded the number of local Kachin voters in some areas.( The outsiders voted overwhelmingly for either NLD or USDP).The party lost many seats by locals being outvoted by the newcomers.
U Shwe Min, Chair of the Lisu National Development Party
We cordially welcome the by-elections There must be by-elections for the people in all the cancelled constituencies in order to recover and restore their citizen rights. It is important to send the voice of ethnics to the parliament at a time when our country is working for the federal democratic union. That’s why, all ethnic parties need to put more efforts to secure more seats in the elections. In my view, the submission of ethnic rights and demands in building up the federal union will remain weak if the ethnic parties are not strong.
It is important to send the voice of ethnics to the parliament at a time when our country is working for the federal democratic union. That’s why, all ethnic parties need to put more efforts to secure more seats in the elections. In my view, the submission of ethnic rights and demands in building up the federal union will remain weak if the ethnic parties are not strong.
Our will compete in the by-elections in those areas where we have potential to achieve success. But as far as I know, our party has no chance in these areas. We have no chance to win the elections both in Shan State and Arakan State. We will not compete in the election in those States.
U Taint Saung, Chair of the New Democracy Party (Kachin)
Our party will make preparations to compete in by-elections. We will again explain the fact that our party can serve the interest of the region, even though we are a small local party which cannot form the government.
However many voters do not enjoy a deep understanding of politics. They only consider that whatever the big parties do is all that matters. We need to explain the importance of local parties to the people. We want the exact number of voters in the regions where we will compete in the next election. I want the elections to be fair. The commission announced the current voters’ lists alone. But it did not announce the number of population, eligible voters and those who cast their votes in every township. We will cooperate with the UEC in order to release the lists.
U Sai Htay Aung, chair of the Tai-Leng (Shan-ni) Nationalities Development Party
We will have to make preparations to compete in the by-elections. In 1988 the public showed their resistance to the single party state. Sticking to the single party system is not good for the country’s reforms in the future. The country is demanding a federal system. We can formulate a genuine federal system through discussions. We expect the public will choose the genuine ethnic parties in the next elections.
