The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has demanded that elections be postponed or cancelled in conflict areas and pandemic-affected areas for the sake of public security.
The USDP sent an open letter with five points including the above demand to the Union Election Commission (UEC) on October 26. Copies were also sent to the President Office and the office of the Union Government.
The demand also includes the reassessment of eligible voter lists, the issuance of a statement convincing the polling officers and workers as well as voters that Covid-19 infections will not worsen and the publicizing of virus control situations with transparency and accountability.
“As the coronavirus spreads extensively, how will they guarantee health security for public voters, health staff and polling officials? How will they guarantee ballot lists? For the sake of the people and for the sorrow for the local people in the areas where elections cannot take place, we sent an open letter,” said USDP spokesperson Thein Tun Oo.
The letter says that in the UEC announcement to abolish some constituencies, those in the hardest-hit Yangon Region are excluded while many ethnic areas in various states are included.
It also points out that the areas that hardly ever see fighting and natural disasters are not allowed to hold elections while conflict areas with repeated armed fights are permitted to hold elections.
The USDP calls for holding elections without fail in the constituencies with scarce or no fighting and disasters.
The UEC issued a statement on October 16 saying that elections will not take place in some areas of Kachin State, Bago Region and Mon, Rakhine and Shan states citing the impossibility of a free and fair election as the reason.
During a press conference on October 20, UEC memeberr Myint Naing said the statement was not issued by the commission alone, but it was issued after seeking opinions from the Union government office, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Home Affairs and election sub-commissions.
