Arakanese youth in Japan call for make-up elections in nixed constituencies 

By Nyan Hein 06 Dec 2020

Nyan Hein | DMG
6 December 2020, Sittwe 

Arakanese youth in Japan staged a demonstration at Tokyo’s Hibiya Park on Sunday afternoon, calling for holding elections in the nine Arakan State townships where voting was cancelled last month. 

“If the Myanmar government really wants democracy, the elections should be held as soon as possible. The government should heed the serious demands made by the international community, including Japan, with a good attitude,” Ko Shun Tun Khaing of the Arakan Youth Association (Japan) told DMG. 

About 30 Arakanese young people who attended the demonstration said they would also call on Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to render assistance to people displaced by conflict in Arakan State. 

“We will ask the Japanese government to help solve Arakan State’s issues relating to the election,” said Ko Shun Tun Khaing.  

On October 16, the Union Election Commission announced that the majority of constituencies in Arakan State would not be voting on November 8, just Myanmar’s third general election under the 2008 Constitution. The commission cited conflict dynamics in the affected townships, where the military and Arakan Army have been at war since late 2018. 

Japan’s special envoy for national reconciliation in Myanmar, Yohei Sasakawa, said during a visit to Arakan State late last month that in his view, the security situation in the townships where voting was not held on November 8 is such that it would be possible to hold elections under the current circumstances.    

The military, meanwhile, was quick to welcome an Arakan Army statement on November 12 demanding that elections be held in the cancelled constituencies by the end of the year.  

Voting was nixed in the entireties of nine Arakan State townships — Pauktaw, Ponnagyun, Rathedaung, Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Kyauktaw, Minbya, Mrauk-U and Myebon — and was held only partially in four of the state’s other eight townships.