CNI News
6 September 2025
The National Democratic Force (NDF) and other political parties are facing difficulties in finding enough candidates to meet the required number to contest in the elections, and are also struggling to submit the candidate lists to the Union Election Commission (UEC) within the deadline, said NDF Joint Chairman U Htet Aung Kyaw.
According to the Political Parties Registration Law, political parties must fulfill the required number of members and party offices, and must submit their compliance to the UEC by the deadline of September 7, as announced by the commission on August 20.
The UEC has announced that the first phase of the general election in Myanmar will be held on December 28, 2025.
Currently, the main challenge for all parties is the submission of candidate lists. Due to the limited timeframe given for submission, it has been difficult to meet the required number of candidates and to conduct thorough scrutiny, U Htet Aung Kyaw of the NDF told CNI News.
Members of the NDF
"Election campaigns will come later. Right now, what all parties are facing is the issue of candidate lists. Not much time was given to submit them. Each party is required to contest at least three constituencies. If a party is competing nationwide, it must contest in at least half of all constituencies. But even though half the constituencies are required, only about 10 days were given for submission. Why is the time frame so restricted? What is the intention behind such a limitation? That’s something worth questioning.", he said.
The UEC has announced that candidate list applications will be scrutinized between September 18 and October 4.
Although their party is able to meet the required number of candidates, U Htet Aung Kyaw explained that the short time frame makes it difficult to properly check and submit the lists, and it feels as though the process has been made deliberately difficult.
Political parties
"Mainly, requirements such as party offices will be fulfilled. We are confident we can meet and even exceed the required number of candidates. But there are other restrictions. For example, in the past, a person from Puta-O could contest in Kawthaung without issue. Now that’s no longer allowed. These are tight restrictions. Some may have good intentions, but overall it feels like it’s deliberately made difficult. For us, we established our party to work for our country, and that’s why we contest the elections. It is difficult, but under the law we must meet the candidate requirements. If not, then how the authorities will have to decide how to take action?.”, he added.
Under Article 12(a) of the Political Parties Registration Law, if a party fails to mobilize the required number of members or open the required number of offices as set out in Article 5 subsections (c) and (g), it will lose its right to continue as a political party.
Article 12(b) further states that the commission must revoke the registration of any party found to be in breach of Article 12(a) and dissolve that party.
At present, political parties in Myanmar planning to contest the election are facing challenges such as: Difficulty in finding enough candidates, Difficulty in fulfilling office requirement, Financial hardships, Security concerns.
