Pic AFP
NAY PYI DAW: Myanmar junta-controlled union election commission announced the demolition of the National League for Democracy and other political parties on March 28 due to a reason for failure to register.
According to a statement issued on March 28 by the military junta-controlled union election commission, a total of 40 political parties that did not apply for registration have had their status as political parties automatically revoked.
Demolished parties include big parties such as National League for Democracy, Shan National League for Democracy, the Democratic party for New Society, and the Kaman National Development party which represent the Muslim ethnic Kaman population in Rakhine state.
Sai Thi Ha Kyaw, spokesperson of SNLD responded to the announcement of UEC on his Facebook which said “We have done our best in the part of the history, SNLD will stand as the people stand”.
Aung Moe Zaw, President of the Democratic party for new society responded to the announcement of UEC on his social media and said: “We are not interested in the election, we are only interested in eliminating the military from Myanmar’s politics”.
Anti-junta Local People defense force fighters are concerned that the military will force people to vote in elections.
Saeid, local people’s defense force fighter from Karen state said: “If the military holds the election, they will force to vote people under their controlled territory. We, PDF are responsible to demolish the machinery of the military by all means”.
Concerns arise as the announcement cease the peace process and democratization of Myanmar.
A Myanmar researcher from Passau University said that “In the domestic level, the demolition of the NLD should not be taken as an opportunity by the other competing parties because it is political violence towards democracy, and everybody will be affected by such a ruin led by a political bully in the long run.
Even before the repercussion of the 2021 coup, Myanmar’s peace has been very fragile and many agreed that the prevalence of functioning electoral institutions alone did not mean that Myanmar had a working democracy. Now the electrical institution itself is actively executing the murder of democracy and the UEC as a puppet of the regime can contribute neither democracy nor peace.”
“The political power granted by the 2008 constitutions is likely to help them implement more rounds of discriminatory policies as they, please. The threat of the far right will continue to be alarming as the ethnic and religious minorities have been targeted as the strategy of othering them has been central to the military’s political ideology,” she added.
National League for Democracy won a landslide victory in the 2020 general election and was ousted by a coup d’etat of the Myanmar military on February 1, 2021, before forming the new parliament with the accusation of voter fraud.
