On election matters, USDP says Tatmadaw operates independently 

By Khin Tharaphy Oo 11 Dec 2020

Khin Tharaphy Oo | DMG
11 December 2020, Sittwe  

A recent Tatmadaw request to the Union Election Commission (UEC) to allow the former to copy electoral documents from the latter does not concern the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), said a USDP leader at a press conference in Nay Pyi Taw on December 11.  

“We do not need to ask for help from the Tatmadaw for the election process. It is doing its duties given by the Constitution. It is not an organisation to discuss with us,” said Dr. Nandar Hla Myint, spokesperson for the USDP.  

The USDP has been widely perceived as backed by the military since the party’s installation as leadership majority in 2010 elections, a position it lost five years later to the now-ruling National League for Democracy (NLD).   

Civil-military election-related relations have been tense for much of this year, reported at times but not holding back overall assessments from outside election observers, who said voting on November 8 was largely free and fair.   

But Myanmar’s military (aka Tatmadaw) announced on November 30 that after learning of election-related disputes across the country, it would scrutinise and review the electoral process in 218 townships to determine whether the election was conducted in accordance with the law. The Tatmadaw asked the UEC to instruct the relevant election subcommissions to allow it to copy public documents as needed as it reviews the election process.  

In response to a Tatmadaw request earlier this month, the UEC on December 7 said that relevant Hluttaw election law and by-laws do not provide for allowing copying of electoral documents.  

Dr. Nandar Hla Myint told the news conference on Friday: “The USDP does not know whom to rely on,” because the government did not do anything when USDP representatives filed complaints over the activities of the UEC.   

“The UEC should be a commission that is fair and helps all political parties, but it is unfair,” he said. “So, we presented to the government the situation, but no response has been made. We do not know what we should tell them. I gave that comment to show that situation.”