Four political parties register to contest junta-organised election, says UEC

11 Feb 2023

DMG Newsroom
11 February 2023, Sittwe

The junta-controlled Union Election Commission (UEC) has announced that four political parties officially registered their organisations from February 1 to 10.

The military proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), Federal Democratic Party, Myanmar People’s Democratic (MPD) party and Union Democracy Party (UDP) registered over the 10-day period, the UEC said.

According to a new law promulgated by Myanmar’s military regime, political parties must apply for registration within 60 days if they want to continue to exist as a legal political party. The law states that if registration is not filed within 60 days, the political party is automatically dissolved.

Although some political parties have registered to compete in the elections, most Arakan State-based political parties are still in the process of considering registration.

The Arakan National Party (ANP), which has established dominance in securing the ethnic Arakanese vote over the past two general elections, has not yet made any preparations regarding the forthcoming, junta-organised poll, party chairman U Tha Tun Hla has told DMG.

“We have not discussed and decided within the party about the election. Regarding the current situation in Myanmar, we believe that the political parties are still unable to engage in the political process,” he said.

The Arakan League for Democracy (ALD), meanwhile, has announced unequivocally that it will not contest the election to be held by the military regime. The military regime is trying to hold onto power by creating a sham election so that the term of the military dictatorship can be extended, the ALD has said.

The regime-allied Arakan Front Party (AFP) has said it will contest the junta-sponsored election, tentatively slated for August of this year.

According to the new electoral law, political parties at the national level must have 100,000 members, while parties at the regional and state levels must have 1,000 members. In addition, it states that national-level political parties must have K100 million in funds and regional and state-level parties must have K10 million in funds.

The UEC’s new Political Parties Registration Law has left small ethnic parties in Arakan State uncertain about their continued existence.

“The issue that the party must have K10 million in funds is very difficult for us,” said U Aung Kyaw Zaw, chairman of the Daingnet National Development Party. “If the party is not registered within 60 days, the law stipulates that it will be automatically voided. It is impossible for us to register within 60 days.”

There were 97 officially registered political parties nationwide under the ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) government, according to figures released by the UEC on May 25, 2020.

The regime has said it will introduce a system of proportional representation (PR) for the proposed poll slated for later this year, replacing the first-past-the-post electoral format of the 2010, 2015 and 2020 general elections.

On January 23, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing said the military regime would work to ensure that all citizens can vote freely in the upcoming election, without threats or coercion — a claim viewed dubiously by wide swaths of the voting public and international community.

On February 1, 2021, Myanmar’s military seized power from the democratically elected NLD government in a coup, citing voter fraud in a 2020 general election that the party, led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, won in a landslide.

In what critics are calling a clear manipulation of the 2008 Constitution, the regime cited the “extraordinary situation” of ongoing fighting across the country as an excuse to renew the emergency rule declaration for a third time on February 1 of this year.