NEPP encourages farmers, workers to apply for candidacy

In an effort to level the playing field for farmers and workers who wish to stand as electoral candidates, the New Era People’s Party (NEPP) has announced it is considering lowering its minimum education requirements for its election candidates.

Tun Myint Aung, the party’s chairman, told DVB: “Ideally, we would choose PhD holders as candidates for the party, but there are no farmers with PhDs. We are considering setting minimum education qualifications for our election candidates as eighth grade graduation, so that farmers and factory workers who did not graduate from high school can run for parliament. This would allow the legislative session to reflect the country’s population in its actual form.”

The NEPP, with around 100,000 members nationwide, is planning to run the 2015 elections in 10 administrative regions across the country.

Drawing attention to disability rights

The disability rights group Myanmar Independent Living Initiative (MILI) is planning workshops with candidates to discuss the post-election future of disability rights in parliament.

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Nay Linn Soe, founder and programme director of MILI, said, “We are planning to organise brainstorming sessions with election candidates on what they can do for the disabled when they get elected. We look to implement these workshops once the parties announce the name of their candidates. We hope to bring greater attention of these potential MPs to the disability situation in the country so they can implement more rights when they get elected.”

The MILI is also planning to provide advice and training to ballot station officials, in collaboration with the Union Election Commission, in the run-up to the election.