Regime urges residents in Sittwe, Kyaukphyu to vote in election

By Admin 10 Oct 2025

DMG Newsroom

10 October 2025, Sittwe

Departmental staff employees are reportedly urging residents of Arakan State’s Sittwe and Kyaukphyu, which are still under the control of Myanmar’s military regime, to vote in the upcoming junta-sponsored election, saying they do not want to lose their civil rights.
 
Junta-appointed Arakan State chief minister U Htein Lin and departmental staff erected signs saying, “Let’s vote so we don’t lose our citizenship rights” in front of U Ottama Park and at busy intersections in Sittwe on the morning of October 9.
 
“Junta officials held a ceremony in front of the park and put up posters and signs. I think there were more than 100 people wearing traditional Arakanese clothes, including police officers, district administration officials, and other departmental staff. They put up signs and held an opening ceremony,” said a woman in Sittwe.
 
Election campaign signs were also erected near the clock tower in the central district of Kyaukphyu on Thursday morning, led by junta soldiers and departmental staff.
 
Ward administrators from Sittwe and Kyaukphyu are holding meetings to encourage people to have faith in the election and vote for peace in the country.
 
“The main purpose of the meeting is to explain to the people how to vote in the election and how to make them understand,” said a resident of Kyaukphyu who is close to local ward administrators.
 
There is ongoing fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) in Kyaukphyu Township, with the latter controlling a rough perimeter about six miles from the town.
 
Similarly, the Arakan Army has blockaded the area around Sittwe, and military tensions are rising on both sides.
 
The military regime reportedly pressured departmental employees in both Sittwe and Kyaukphyu to support the election, avoid contact with outsiders, come to the military whenever they are called, and support and cooperate with their actions at any time.
 
“The military regime is running its administration in a manner that is like threatening if you can’t persuade, arresting if you can’t threaten,” said a young man in Kyaukphyu. “The military regime will shamelessly spread propaganda that the people support and encourage the junta-organised election, and then declare the election a success.”
 
While struggling to make ends meet, Kyaukphyu and Sittwe residents have expressed little interest in the upcoming elections, slated for December 28.
 
Out of 17 townships in Arakan State, the military regime controls only Sittwe, Kyaukphyu, and Manaung, and preparations are underway to hold the first round of elections in these three towns.
 
The junta-appointed Union Election Commission (UEC) has allowed six political parties claiming to represent the people of Arakan State to compete in the elections. They are the Rakhine Nationalities Party (RNP); Arakan Front Party (AFP); Rakhine State National Unity Party (RSUNP); Khami National Development Party; Mro National Party; and Mro National Development Party (MNDP).
 
The military regime will hold the first phase of the election in 102 townships on December 28, and has issued a law that could punish anyone who attempts to disrupt the election with imprisonment or even the death penalty.