The Township General Administration Department (GAD) has instructed the removal of ward/village office signboards belonging to the Mon Unity Party (MUP) in different townships of Mon State, as reported on the online page of the Human Rights Foundation of MonLand (HURFOM).
According to a member of the Mon Unity Party central executive committee (CEC) quoted by HURFOM, the Union Election Commission (UEC) did not issue a specific order for the removal of party signboards. It was actually the General Administration Department (GAD) that gave the instruction.
“It is not the sole responsibility of the MUP to remove their signboards. All political parties are required to do the same. While the township offices are permitted to display their signboards, offices in villages or wards must remove theirs. We have already given instructions to the village/ward office to take down their signboards,” said a member of the central executive committee (CEC) of the Mon Unity Party.
The information on HURFOM's online page reads : the ward/village office signboards of the Mon Unity Party (MUP) have been removed starting from July 8, 2023.There has been no statement released by either the UEC or the MUP explaining the reason behind the removal of the signboards.
"The township GAD emphasized that party signboards in the villages or wards must be removed due to security concerns. Accordingly we have taken down the signboard and stored it in our office. It is nothing special," said another CEC member of the MUP.
According to the HURFOM page, despite the central level of the Mon Unity Party (MUP) downplaying the significance of this directive, party members in the villages are expressing their disappointment. “We are unaware of the reason behind this decision. The higher-ranking officials of the party have not provided any explanation. The party office is located at my house, and I feel disappointed and unhappy about having to remove our party's signboard," said a township-level member of the MUP.
The Mon Unity Party (MUP) decided to downgrade their party status from "Union Level" to "State Level" in response to a new electoral law approved by the military junta. This decision was made in order to meet the new party registration requirements dictated by the junta.
The Mon Unity Party, as an ethnic political party, submitted their application for party registration to the Union Election Commission of the Military Council on March 15. However, despite almost four months having passed since then, they have not yet received approval for their registration.
