Arakanese parties show election strength, but majority unlikely 

By ီDMG 09 Nov 2020

DMG Newsroom
9 November 2020, Sittwe 

Two ethnic Arakanese political parties looked set to hold a plurality of seats in Arakan State as votes continued to be tallied on Monday, with the Arakan National Party (ANP) saying it won all races in Sittwe Township and the Arakan Front Party (AFP) claiming to be leading in the four constituencies up for grabs in Kyaukphyu Township.  

The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) was touting wins in heavily militarised Ann Township, while the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) looked set to hang onto much of Arakan State’s south, the party’s stronghold in the 2015 general election. 

The ANP’s central victory committee information in-charge, U Kyaw Win Chay, said his party had won Sittwe Township’s seats for the Pyithu Hluttaw, Amyotha Hluttaw and state hluttaw Constituency Nos. 1 and 2. 

“The ANP is leading in Sittwe. It is winning almost surely,” he told DMG. “Although the vote results have not been confirmed, there is no reason not to win. … Surely, we are winning. We just can’t tell voting numbers exactly.” 

In addition to the ANP, the AFP, the USDP and the NLD fielded candidates in Sittwe Township — home to the state capital and seat of the state government — and an independent candidate also ran for Sittwe’s Constituency No. 2 in the state legislature.  

The AFP’s vice chairman, U Kyaw Zaw Oo, posted on Facebook on Monday morning that his party had lost in Sittwe Township. 

“Though all the ballots are not yet known, we realise that all contesting candidates representing AFP in Sittwe have lost already,” he wrote. 

Sittwe Township has more than 107,000 eligible voters but voter turnout was not yet known, nor was the breakdown for each candidate, as of press time.  

The ANP won in all Sittwe Township constituencies in the 2015 general election. 

As yet, there have been no official election results certified by the Union Election Commission (UEC), with statements from the respective political parties providing the best early indications of election outcomes.   

AFP lays claim to Kyaukphyu 

The AFP, meanwhile, said it was leading in all four constituencies in Kyaukphyu Township, with victories looking likely in the township’s Lower House seat, as well as its two constituencies in the Arakan State legislature.  

U Than Lwin, an AFP state assembly candidate, said although votes were still being counted, the party was also leading in the Upper House balloting for Kyaukphyu.   

“However, we are still waiting for the vote results from Manaung Township,” the candidate said. Kyaukphyu and Manaung townships together make up Arakan State’s Constituency No. 1 in the Amyotha Hluttaw aka Upper House.  

Ko Kyaw Win Chay of the ANP acknowledged that his party appeared to lose to the AFP in Kyaukhpyu Township, but held out hope for an ANP victory in the Amyotha Hluttaw race when the vote counting is completed in Manaung Township. 

“Only one place, for the Amyotha Hluttaw, is in good condition. We heard the situation for state hluttaw and Pyithu Hluttaw are not good enough,” he said. 

The ANP won all four races in Kyaukphyu Township during the 2015 election, with the upstart AFP fielding candidates for the first time this year.  

USDP proves formidable in Ann Twsp 

Elsewhere, the USDP was leading in Ann Township as votes continued to be counted on Monday, according to the party chairman of the township, Dr. San Shwe.  

Elections were held for Ann Township’s Lower House and Upper House seats, but only one of two seats in the Arakan State legislature, with the USDP ahead in the running tally so far, he said. 

“Our party is ahead of others in all three of those constituencies. But we still have to wait for the results in Ramree Township for the Upper House seat. Only then can the result be confirmed,” Dr. San Shwe told DMG. (The Amyotha Hluttaw’s Arakan State Constituency No. 2 is split between Ann and Ramree townships.) 

Ann Township’s other constituency for the state assembly did not vote due to security concerns.  

The USDP’s victory in Ann, if it is confirmed, will likely be viewed with an asterisk by many.   

The UEC announced on October 16 that elections would not be held in 32 wards and village-tracts in Ann Township due to security reasons. But later, it said elections would be held in four village-tracts where the polls were previously cancelled. Several military units are based in the four village-tracts, prompting criticisms from candidates that the decision gave advantage to the USDP, which is widely viewed as the Myanmar military’s proxy. 

“My constituency consists of seven wards and four village-tracts. Elections were previously cancelled in those four village-tracts. But then, the UEC allowed holding elections in those village-tracts where around 10 battalions including the Western Command are headquartered. And the UEC left out all the other villages that support other parties,” said Arakan League for Democracy (ALD) candidate U Soe Thein, who ran for the Ann Township constituency in the Arakan State legislature.  

Winless campaign expected for ALD 

Across Arakan State, the ALD looked headed for a disappointing election showing, with the party not laying claim to any seats as ballots were still being tabulated on Monday. The ALD fielded candidates in six townships but came up empty-handed, according to party spokesperson U Hla Myint. 

“No one has won in Arakan State,” he said. 

The ALD contested four Amyotha Hluttaw seats, six Pyithu Hluttaw seats and 10 state hluttaw seats in Kyaukphyu, Manaung, Ramree, Ann, Taungup and Thandwe townships. 

The ALD entered this year’s election for the first time since 1990, when it contested 25 seats and received the majority of votes. The ALD was founded in September 1989 but was banned by the military junta in 1992. It was allowed to register once more as a political party in April 2012, dissolved of its own accord in 2014 and re-registered with the UEC in January 2017.   

With voting cancelled in the entirety of nine Arakan State townships and partially in four other townships in the state, there were just over 400,000 eligible voters able to cast ballots on Election Day, out of more than 1.6 million statewide.