Only about 10 candidates, who ran for the ethnic affairs ministers in the recent election in Kachin State, submitted their election expenses, according to the Kachin State Election Sub-Commission.
The election expenses for a candidate who runs for an ethnic affairs minister seat is fixed at Ks-15 million and Ks-10 million for a candidate who will run for the upper house, lower house and region/state parliamentary seats.
U Tun Aung Khaing, the officer of the Kachin State Election Sub-Commission said: “The candidates who will run for the ethnic affairs ministers must submit their election expenses by December 14. At present, only just over 10 candidates have submitted their election expenses. The UEC will declare the candidates who fail to submit their election expenses during the designated period, as disqualified from running in the future.
The ruling states “All candidates who competed in the election must submit their election expenses without fail. If not, the UEC shall declare those who failed to do so, the disqualified ones. They shall not be eligible to compete in the next elections. Under the law, and even elected candidates may be disqualified.
A total of 25 candidates ran for the ethnic affairs minister in Kachin State—five for Rawan ethnic affairs minister, seven for Shan ethnic affairs minister, seven for Lisu ethnic affairs minister and six for Bamar ethnic affairs minister.
According to Section 77 of respective election rules, all candidates shall submit their election expenses within 30 days, following the announcement of election results.
There are 787,956 eligible voters for ethnic affairs ministers. The voter turnout for the ethnic affairs minister is 69.31 percent in Kachin State in the 2020 General Elections.
The voter turnout for Rawan ethnic affairs minister is 75.63 percent, 66.48 percent for Lisu ethnic affairs minister, 69.09 percent for Bamar ethnic affairs minister and 69.75 percent for Shan ethnic affairs minister, according to the UEC.
In the 2020 General Elections, there are 1,150,407 eligible voters in Kachin State, according to the election commission.
