Authorities are planning to add Seikkan Township into another township before 2020, said MP May Soe of Botahtaung Constituency.

The township has over 2,000 residents with most of them being government employees. The township has about 800 people who are eligible to vote, she said.

“The authorities are planning to add the township into another township as there are about 800 eligible voters in the township. It had been arranged since 2017 or 2018. It will be carried out before 2020. It is not a populated township and government staffs only lived. Botahtaung Pagoda is located inside Seikkan Township. I am the patron of the pagoda trustee and I saw the family of government staffs lived nearby of the pagoda. I don’t know the township will be added to Kyauktada or Lathar townships. It will be decided by the union ministry,” said the MP.

People have criticized that the arrangement is made because the ruling party National League for Democracy (NLD) lost in the 2018 by-election in Seikkan Township.

The MP denied the rumor.

Thein Tun Oo, Spokesperson of Union Solidarity and Development Party (UDSP) said, “Our party didn’t look into the issue yet. The plan to add Seikkan Township into another township is clearly seen as an approach not to lose in next election.”

The USDP candidate, Nay Myo Aung, won 514 votes at No.2 Seikkan Constituency in by-election held on November 3 2018. Over 900 out of 1,434 eligible voters gave vote in 2018 by-election in the township.

Moreover the NLD won all six places in Yangon Municipal Election held on March 31 2019 and they lost all candidate places in Seikkan Township, according to the announcement made by the Yangon City Development Committee on April 1.

Aye Yu Maw, the NLD candidate for Seikkan Township Development Committee chairman, won only 298 votes and Hla Than, an independent candidate, won 421 votes. The NLD didn’t compete in No.1 and 2 of the township development committee member election.