As UEC is yet to register, ANP halts all party activities

As the Arakan National Party (ANP) is yet to get registered by the Union Election Commission (UEC) under the military council, it has suspended all kinds of party activities, said the party chairman U Tha Tun Hla.

"The party registration has not been granted yet and hence the activities are currently being suspended. Even the activities within the party are also stopped,” he added while talking to Narinjara News.

There is a possibility that if party activities are carried out without the permission from the junta authorities it will take actions.

The UEC granted party registration to five of six political parties from Rakhine State which applied for the registration.

Tha Tun Hla believes that the reason for delaying their registration was because any powerful ethnic political party is not allowed to register so easily. The authorities are taking time to scrutinize all details carefully.

"Some ethnic parties are yet to be registered. So I believe it is taking more time for us too. They may be checking all details of influential ethnic more carefully before allowing them to register,” he stated.

The UEC released necessary guidelines for registration of political parties on 26 January and asked the parties to apply for registration under the new laws.

Besides the ANP, Rakhine/Arakan  Front Party (AFP) led by Dr Aye Maung, Mro People's Party (MNP), Mro  Ethnic Development Party (MNDP), Khami National Development Party (KNDP) and Rakhine State National Unity Party (RSNUP) applied for registration.

Following which MNDP got its registration on 3 July, KNDP) on 5 May, MNP on 4 May, and both AFP and RSNUP received green signal from the UEC on 2 May.

U Aung Moe Myint, the in-charge of UEC for Rakhine State discussed with the leaders of five local political parties on 11 July at the State election commission office.

The leaders who attended the meeting revealed that the UEC instructed the parties not to be involved with any armed organization.

Arakan League for Democracy (ALD), which previously existed as a political party in Rakhine State, Kaman National Progressive Party (KNPP) and Danet People's Progressive Party (DNDP) did not apply for their re-registration. So those parties have automatically dissolved under the military council electoral laws.

On 28 March, the UEC disclosed that more than 60 political parties across Myanmar applied for registration. But 40 parties, including the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi, did not apply within the specified time.