CNI News
13 Mar 2023
One of the hotly debated issues in the Myanmar political circle has been what kind of political landscape would emerge if elections could not be held as planned despite the fact that the State Administration Council said it would hold a general election in 2023.
The SAC chairman vowed to hold the general election in 2023 and to hand over state power to the winning party.
On the other hand, some political observers are of the view that the possibility of holding elections has dwindled by the on-going armed conflicts and the general election is likely to be postponed.
If the general election could not be held, the SAC would continue to grasp the state power, Chairman Dr Aye Maung of the Arakan Front Party told the CNI.
A demonstration calling for democracy.
Dr Aye Mang told the CNI, "There are 20 townships which are not included in the list of 65 townships where stability and security cannot be guaranteed. How long will it take to effectively restore security and stability in these townships? If elections could not be held in these townships, the state of emergency will be extended for another six months under section 425 of the constitution. If the elections could not be held after that, would they declare a fresch state of emergency for one year under section 410 and section 417 of the constitution? They could take such measures under the constitution. Would you disrupt the elections or offer help to hold them? Whether the ASEAN would recognize the election is the problem of the ASEAN. Whether the people would recognize the elections is the problem of the people. Whether the SAC would accept the elections is the problem of the SAC. If the elections could not be held, the SAC would continue to grasp the state power.
Under section 25 of the political parties registration law, political parties are required to be re-registered within 60 days from the enactment of the law in accordance with the law and rules and failure to do so will lead to cessation of relevant politically spontaneously, according to the law enacted by the SAC.
At present, some politicians have reportedly re-registered their parties with the Union Election Commission.
The SAC would hold the elections it promised without fail, Chairman Sai Aik Paung of the Shan and Nationalities Democratic Party told the CNI.
Members of the NUG and the PDF.
He said, "We should think about the elections not negatively but positively. The SAC chairman has vowed to hold the elections and he will respect his promise. There is still enough time to hold the elections. Wait and see positively."
It was difficult to predict whether the elections would be held or not under the current political circumstances, Spokesperson Naing Than Shwe of the Mon Unity Party told the CNI.
He said, "The state of emergency has not ended. I think the elections will be held but I cannot predict how they will be held exactly because the military is planning to conduct a population census. However, it is difficult to predict the details."
The National Unity Government has vowed to disrupt the elections to be held by the SAC as its political exit.
However, other political parties and politicians said the election would be a political exit for the country and should support them even if they could not support the SAC.
