Khonumthung News — The number of female candidates from the Chin community taking part in the upcoming election is significantly greater than the number who ran in the 2010 election, according to figures released by election authorities.
While only two female Chin candidates ran in the 2010 Election, 23 female Chin candidates will run in next month's election.
There will be three Chin women candidates running for the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and the same number of Chin women candidates from Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD). There will also be one Chin women candidate running for the National Unity Party (NUP). The Chin ethnic parties also have a number of women candidates running for them. With three female candidates running for the Chin League for Democracy (CLD), five women candidates from the Chin National Democratic Party (CNDP), four women candidates from the Chin Progressive Party (CPP), three women candidates from the Zomi Congress for Democracy (ZCD) and one women candidate from the Zo National Region Development Party.
A community elder from Chin state's Htantalan town told Khonumthung News that he expects good things from the Chin female candidate because of the track record of the only Chin woman elected in the 2010 election. “If you look at the proposals and success rates of the proposals submitted in the Lower House by Pi Zatlem, who won in the 2010 [Election], she is a lot better than the Chin male MPs. You can’t belittle the capacity of women, ” he said. Pi Zatlem served as an MP from the CNP.
Next month's election will see a total of 202 Chin candidates from 13 political parties and eight independent candidates run for seats in Chin State and Chin populated constituencies in Arakan State.
Only the USDP, NLD, and the CNDP will run candidates in all 39 constituencies in Chin State. The rest of the parties will only run in some of the constituencies. According to recent census figures a total of 273,673 people live in Chin State.
According to the Union Election Commission a total of 6,074 candidates will run in the 2015 General Election. With 1,745 candidates running for the Lower House and 886 candidates running for the Upper House. An additional 3,443 candidates will run for the State and Regional Parliaments.
Translated by Thida Linn with editing by BNI staff.
