Nay Pyi Taw, March (19)
There are 29 political parties that applied for party establishment and registration for the military council sham election between February 1and March 17, with 12 of them being ethnic parties.
Among the 12 ethnic political parties, the Kachin State People’s Party (KSPP), the New Democratic Party – Kachin (NDP), the Lisu National Development Party (LNDP) and the Tai-Leng Nationalities Development Party (TNDP) will organize within Kachin State.
The Arakan Front Party (AFP), the Rakhine State National United Party and the Kha Mee National Development Party will organize in Rakhine State, while the PaO National Liberation Organization (PNLO) and the Akha National Development Party will organize in Shan State.
The Phalon-Sawaw Democratic Party (PSDP) will organize in Karen State, the Mon Unity Party in Mon State, and the Shan-ni Solidarity Party (SSP) in Sagaing respectively.
The Arakan National Party, a powerful ethnic party that won the 2020 election, will also register as a state-level organizing party next week, party chairman U Tha Tun Hla told Than Lwin Times.
According to the statement of the military council, seven parties will organize at the union level and 22 parties at the regional or state level.
Among the parties that will organize around the nation are the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP), the Public Contribute Students Democracy Party, the Union Democratic Party, the National Unity Party, the People’s Pioneer Party, and the Myanmar Farmers Development Party (MFDP).
Other mainland-based political parties will only organize within one region, and the military council has set the last date for party registration as August 28, so there are only 10 days left.
The Political Parties Registration Law requires that the parties apply for registration within 60 days, or their status will be automatically canceled.
There are 91 existing political parties in Myanmar, of which only a third of the parties have applied to the junta’s Union Election Commission for party establishment and registration.
News-Than Lwin Times
Photo – MOI