Junta yet to approve ANP’s political party registration

By Admin 18 Oct 2023

DMG Newsroom
18 October 2023, Sittwe
 
The junta-appointed Union Election Commission (UEC) has not yet approved the registration of the Arakan National Party (ANP), one of the biggest players in Arakan State politics, nearly seven months after the party applied for registration.
 
The ANP applied for registration on March 26, 2023, but the junta’s election body has not yet approved its application, forcing the party to halt its functions, according to ANP chairman U Thar Tun Hla.
 
“I heard [the UEC] is still vetting some party members,” he told DMG.
 
Six parties based in Arakan State have applied for registration with the junta-appointed UEC. All five others — namely the Arakan Front Party, Rakhine National Unity Party, Khami National Development Party, Mro Ethnic Party and Mro National Development Party — have already had their registrations approved by the commission.
 
Political operatives have suggested that the regime-beholden UEC is taking time to vet certain individuals due to their real or perceived ties to the United League of Arakan (ULA), the political wing of the Arakan Army (AA).
 
The military government has concerns that the ULA’s influence in Arakan State will be enhanced by collaboration with a political party, said a political activist from Kyaukphyu Township who asked for anonymity.
 
“The regime will not be reluctant to remove the ANP, which may stand in its way. If the regime [via its proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party] can’t win the election [in Arakan State], it may want a local party under its influence to win the poll. So, it is less likely that the ANP’s registration will be approved,” he said.
 
The ANP did not respond to claims that the UEC has not approved its application for registration because some of its former leaders and affiliates have ties to the ULA.
 
ANP chair U Tha Tun Hla said: “Even political parties whose registrations have been approved find it difficult to operate under the current political situation in Myanmar.”
 
The ANP won the most seats in Myanmar’s 2015 and 2020 general elections in Arakan State.
 
Under the Political Parties Registration Law promulgated by the regime earlier this year, parties running nationally must recruit at least 100,000 members within 90 days of registration, and parties contesting only in a single region or state are required to recruit at least 1,000 members.
 
The Arakan State election sub-commission has said personal details such as the names and IDs of the members of some parties do not match with the information they have on file, and has instructed them to address the discrepancies.
 
The local commission said data pertaining to about 1,100 of 1,500 party members on the list submitted by the Mro National Democracy Party do not match. But the commission did not provide details, and the party has not yet amended its list, said party chair U Aye Tun.
 
“The commission did not provide detailed error lists such as whose addresses and IDs are wrong. So, we have not yet fixed it,” he told DMG.
 
Secretary U Thurein Htut of the Arakan State election sub-commission said commission officials are vetting party members face-to-face regarding the flagged discrepancies.
 
“Currently, the immigration office, General Administration Department, and election commission are checking. Only after checking will we give the list to parties,” he said.
 
Updated party member lists under scrutiny are to be submitted by October 31, and parties that fail to do so face dissolution, according to the Political Parties Registration Law.
 
Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing has said an election to rectify alleged fraud in the 2020 general election — an assertion widely disputed domestically and internationally — will be organised only after conducting a nationwide population census in 2024.