Myanmar’s election commission has been under fire for controversial decisions to cancel voting in ways that advantage the NLD. Tonight it announced some changes that will mainly rub salt in the wounds. Major missed opportunity to ease tensions. 1/5 uec.gov.mm
In Rakhine State, the major flashpoint, it un-cancelled a few village tracts in Ann and Kyaukpyu. Changes nothing here, and this will likely be interpreted by Rakhine leaders as a further provocation. 2/5
Paletwa in Chin State, most conflict affected part of Myanmar in 2020, previously no cancellations. Now elections cancelled almost everywhere, except 7 urban areas of main town, and 1 village tract. CRUCIALLY, cancellations are such that all 5 NLD-held seats remain in play. 3/5
In Shan State, no real changes. Voting reinstated in 1 ward and 2 village tracts. No changes to cancellation decisions in Kachin State, which won’t go down well. 4/5
This is a provocative move by the election commission. It has addressed none of the grievances and complaints made against its original decisions. And with only a few days before elections, it is difficult to imagine that there could be further revisions. 5/5

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Richard Horsey

Richard Horsey Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @rshorsey

18 Oct
Controversy & claims of bias after Myanmar election commission declined (so far) to cancel elections in western Myanmar’s most conflict affected township, Paletwa. Strange decision when polls have been cancelled in most of Rakhine State, even places with no fighting. Why? 1/6
It looks bad for the election commission (under the constitution, a non-independent body appointed by the sitting president) because nearly all cancelled seats in Rakhine were held by ethnic opposition party ANP. Whereas all 5 seats in Paletwa are held by the NLD. What gives? 2/6
First, while decision to cancel most of Rakhine is controversial & inflammatory, it’s not necessarily unfounded. Even in areas of Rakhine with no fighting, police/govt officials often attacked & in fear of lives. Last week 3 NLD candidates kidnapped at gunpoint in “safe” area 3/6
Read 6 tweets
16 Oct
Myanmar election commission has just announced areas where elections will be cancelled for security reasons. Here’s a quick analysis. Rakhine State is the big news; this could be a serious conflict flashpoint. 1/7 facebook.com/uecmyanmar/pos…
RAKHINE: Major cancellations, with authorities taking a maximalist approach that will anger Rakhine people and parties. 9 townships (out of 17) totally cancelled. 4 more partially cancelled (Sittwe, Kyaukpyu, Ann, Toungup). Only 4 unaffected (Gwa, Thandwe, Munaung, Ramree). 2/7
All of Arakan National Party safe seats totally cancelled except Sittwe. 3 of 4 townships currently held by NLD unaffected by cancellations. This tilts the election in Rakhine decisively in favour of NLD. While there are valid security concerns, will be very controversial. 3/7
Read 7 tweets
4 Jul
A thread about the tragic loss of life in Myanmar’s Phakant jade mines. So far, 172 bodies have been recovered; dozens more are missing. While this is the most deadly single incident, deaths of informal “jade pickers” happen year after year. What will it take to change this? 1/14
The govt has announced the formation of an “investigation body” to look into the incident, find who was to blame, arrange compensation and “recommend action plans regarding security” to prevent future deaths. That final point on security is telling, and worrying... 2/14
It suggestes an assumption, also conveyed by State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, that the blame lies with the deceased, because they were working illegally and in defiance of mine closure orders. But that is to fundamentally misunderstand the nature of mining at Phakant. 3/14
Read 16 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!