Mawlamyine, October (18)
The military council is preparing for the election by checking the voter list and the locations of voting stations in some townships of Mon State.
The junta-appointed members of the election commission and departmental staff have started preparing for the election in Mon State’s Paung, Kyaikmaraw, and Chaungsone Townships since the second week of October.
On the other hand, the junta’s propaganda media advertised tenders for equipment to be utilized in the upcoming elections.
Military leader, General Min Aung Hlaing said in his speech on the 7th anniversary of the signing of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) on October 15 that he will implement a proportional representation (PR) system that will broadly represent political parties and ethnic groups in the upcoming elections.
An official of the Myanmar Election Monitoring Network said that “since the election law has flaws, the military council can hold elections in any possible place for their political exit. The minimum township required to hold an election is not stipulated in the election law. The election law only states that it will be held in 330 townships and does not specify a minimum number of townships”.
Furthermore, he stated that obtaining the exact population and voter list is impossible because the military council’s verification of voter lists is based solely on the household list form (66).
The military council held a meeting of the National Defense and Security Council on July 31 to hold elections, and the state of emergency was extended by six months, with four months remaining.
The current state of emergency will expire on February 1, 2023, and the military council will be required to hold elections within the next six months.
Thakhin Myo Sett, the leader of the Paung People’s Defense Forces, stated that they will attempt to annul the junta’s election.
The Military Council has currently deployed forces almost everywhere in the country, and battles with the People’s Defense Forces (PDF) as well as powerful regional armed forces take place on a daily basis.
A member of the Mon PDF’s Northern Regional Command Committee also noted that the parties that will run in the elections organized by the military organization, are doing their own interests.
According to a report issued by the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-Myanmar) in the second week of September, the military council can only fully control 72 of the country’s 330 townships.
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, United States (US) Department of State, Melissa Brown said that now is not the right time to hold any elections in Myanmar to solve the ongoing political crisis, and that the election will only incite more violence in the junta-ruled country.
The Acting President of the National Unity Government (NUG), Duwa Lalhi La, vowed on October 11 that he would annul the military council’s election as a practical response.
News- Than Lwin Times
