Many candidates and local people in Rakhine State are furious with rulings by the UEC that have lumped even peaceful townships together with those areas where fighting is taking place, as all the same no-go areas in the November election.
Local Arakanese parties who have actively campaigned in safe areas are astonished that the UEC has taken away the democratic rights of 1.1 million eligible voters, most of them were expected to be supporters of local ethnic parties and vote against the ruling NLD party.
The ethnic Rakhine Arakan National Party (ANP) secretary Tun Aung Kyaw said “the decision to cancel the vote had been taken for political, rather than security reasons. Most townships in Rakhine state where elections will not be held are areas the ANP would definitely win, so this is a deliberate ploy," he told the French News Agency AFP, adding “it was "discrimination" against ethnic minorities”.
The election will bar nine townships, 15 wards and 137 village-tracts in Arakan State from participation in the ballot. The UEC claims that all these NO-VOTE areas are not able to hold a free and fair election because of a lack of peace and security.
The following are the voices of local candidates on the exclusion of many areas in Arakan State. There were no elections in some areas of Kachin, Karen, Bago, Mon and Shan, in the 2015 Election and in 2020 Rakhine has been added to the list.
U Soe Min Naing, a candidate from Maungdaw District of the Arakan Front Party (AFP)
We need to review whether or not Myanmar is really a free and fair country. The result of this ban is that we will not have anyone in parliament to represent the voices of local people from Maungdaw. Our region will be further deprived of justice. For me this case of persecution.
U Maung Ohn, an independent candidate of Maungdaw Township Constituency-2
This region is in a position to hold the election if the UEC really wants to do it. There are no armed conflicts in some areas in Maungdaw Township and Pauktaw Township. I think the incumbent government is unlikely to win the seats here. That is why the election here has been stopped. There are no high covid-19 infection rates in Pauktaw and Maungdaw Townships. Nor are there armed conflicts. So why did the UEC decide to ban the election? I think this is not a good sign at a time when the country is supposed to be marching towards democracy and a federal system.
U Maung Win Thein, a candidate from Maungdaw Township Constituency-2 of the Arakan National Party
I have a doubt why the election is skipped in the areas which enjoy regional peace and stability. The south and north of Maungdaw Township is in a position to hold the election. We enjoy peace and stability. We have not accepted the UEC ruling that there can be no election due to the lack of regional stability. The locals from Maungdaw Township are asking what is the real reason why our election was canceled?
More than 1.1 million voters in Myanmar's western Rakhine state will be disenfranchised in upcoming national polls, according to data released by the election commission Friday (Oct 16), a move experts warned could fuel yet more conflict.
The UEC decision could have a "huge impact on the political dynamics of Rakhine," warned Sai Ye Kyaw Swar Myint, executive director of monitoring organization the People's Alliance for Credible Elections told CNA (Channel News Asia).
This claim was supported by Yangon-based analyst Richard Horsey who agreed this would likely tilt the election in Rakhine decisively in favor of Suu Kyi's NLD.
And if the NLD succeeds in stifling the free expression of local political settlement Horsey warns “There is a very serious risk that this will provoke increased armed conflict and political violence in Rakhine."
