Sa Eh Sue — Although threats and personal attacks have been made against candidates in other parts of the country, female candidates from Karen State tell BNI's Election Newsroom that it is unlikely that such issues will take place in their state.
The campaign in Karen State has not so far seen any conflict between political parties running in the state, says Nan Than Than Lwin, Lower House candidate from the National League for Democracy (NLD) who is running in the Hpa-an.
“I don’t think such kind of incidents will happen here because many ethnic people live in Karen State so you can say it’s peaceful. Also, it’s been peaceful between each party. Nobody makes any big trouble. When two parties meet head-on, they avoid this. Also, our Karen people are peaceful so we greet each other with a smile,” Nan Than Than Lwin said.
Upper House candidate Nan Yi Yi Htwe from the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), who is running in Hlaingbwe Constituency No 3 also said that things have been good so far. “Everything is calm in the rural areas where we did our campaigns. There are many relatives and friends with mutual interests in our rival parties. There aren’t any grudges between the parties so there aren’t any personal attacks,” she said.
Although some constituencies in Karen State are located in territory controlled by the Karen National Union (KNU) and pro government militias turned border guard force (BGF), most of the political parties understand the territory rules so they have not faced any threats or attacks, says Naw El Phaw Waa from the Karen State Civil Society Network. Her group has been giving electoral education and monitoring during the election.
“Most political parties and civil society organizations already understand the rules of this territory. They know who to contact and inform before traveling. Also, they only travel only when it is safe for them to travel. Sometimes, they took security [for the travelers] so we haven’t faced any threat or attack,” Naw El Phaw Waa explained.
Violence has affected the campaign elsewhere. Last week near Yangon NLD candidate U Naing Ngan Linn, executive member U Kyaw Thu and their colleague Daw Thandar Maw, were injured in a sword attack. Candidates and civil society organizations have said these kinds of violent incidents have not taken place in Karen State during the campaign period.
A total of 256 candidates from 18 political parties, as well as small number of independents, are running in Karen State in the upcoming election. Of this total 33 candidates are female.
Karen state has been home to one of the longest running civil wars in the world. The KNU, Burma's oldest armed ethnic group, signed a ceasefire with the central government in 2012 and recently signed on to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA).
