Internet shutdown hampers political parties’ Arakan State electoral preparations 

By Min Tun 14 Jul 2020

Min Tun | DMG
14 July, Sittwe 

Political parties in Arakan State are struggling to make preparations for the upcoming general election due to the prolonged internet shutdown affecting some townships, according to party officials. 

“There are transportation barriers due to the security conditions in conflict-torn Arakan State. It may hamper the party’s electoral works that have to be done online,” said U Myo Kyaw, secretary of the Arakan League for Democracy (ALD).  

“The party can organise online campaigns if there is internet access. The party can send letters, directives and reports among the townships via the internet. The internet blackout has caused a big barrier to the abovementioned processes,” he explained. 

“Though all citizens have access to the internet, the internet shutdown citing the security [situation] in Arakan State is a violation of the people’s democratic rights,” the ALD official concluded. 

Dr. San Shwe, chair of the opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in Arakan State, said: “Due to the internet blackout in the COVID-19 period, the party faces delays in sending information. Another point is the party cannot send real-time information to party members during the COVID-19 pandemic era.” 

For more than a year — since June 21, 2019 — the government has cut off mobile internet access in Arakan State’s Buthidaung, Rathedaung, Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw, Myebon, Mrauk-U and Minbya townships, as well as Paletwa Township in Chin State.  

U Tin Hlaing Win, general secretary of the Kaman National Progressive Party (KNPP), said that “due to the internet shutdown, the upcoming election in Arakan State will not be free and fair.” 

At a press conference on June 23, Brigadier-General Zaw Min Tun of the Tatmadaw True News Information Team said the leaking of sensitive information about military operations and positions was one of the primary reasons for the internet ban. 

Hostilities between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army have plagued Arakan State since December 2018, with the ongoing conflict threatening to prevent some of the state’s 17 townships from holding the general election later this year.