Arakan election watchdog calls upcoming vote unfair

By Min Tun 05 Nov 2020

Min Tun | DMG
5 November 2020, Sittwe

With just days until the vote, the Arakan Election Monitoring Committee is claiming that the upcoming elections in Arakan State will not be fair, with the group citing internet restrictions affecting several townships in the state’s north.

Even before the Union Election Commission (UEC) enumerated the townships where it had decided to cancel elections, the nine townships denied the opportunity to vote had only limited internet access, noted U Khaing Kaung San, a leading member of the watch group.

“Because of internet restrictions, political parties and candidates [in parts of Arakan State] are not able to campaign on social media. While candidates in other parts of the country are soliciting votes on social media, candidates in those townships do not have equal rights. So, we consider the election unfair,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

Elections have been cancelled in the entireties of Pauktaw, Ponnagyun, Rathedaung, Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Kyauktaw, Minbya, Myebon and Mrauk-U townships, as well as 15 wards and 130 village-tracts in Ann, Kyaukphyu, Taungup and Sittwe townships, due to security concerns.

As a result, more than 1.2 million out of over 1.6 million eligible voters in Arakan State will be disenfranchised this year, according to the Arakan State election subcommission.

The Arakan Election Monitoring Committee is hardly the first to raise concerns about the November 8 vote, which is just Myanmar’s third general election under the 2008 Constitution.

“How can the election in Arakan State be free and fair when only 25% of voters will be able to cast votes? It is evident since [the UEC] said there are security concerns even in places where Tatmadaw units are based,” said a spokesperson for the Arakan National Party, Daw Aye Nu Sein. “This shows that the electoral procedures and processes done by the UEC over the past five years are open to criticisms.”

Candidate U Soe Thein of the Arakan League for Democracy, who is contesting a seat in the Arakan State legislature representing Ann Township, expressed similar disappointment over the cancelled polls.

“They said elections can’t be held in villages embroiled in armed conflicts. But in Ann Township, clashes are taking place only in Dar Let village-tract. Who said clashes took place in other villages? We candidates and people don’t know who said so. We have incurred costs for campaigning, and voters also lose their voting rights. So, this is not a fair election,” he said.

The UEC has designated a total of three wards and 25 village-tracts in Ann Township as being no-vote zones.

The commission has said it obtained input from the Union government, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Home Affairs prior to announcing which townships would not hold elections in this weekend’s general election.