An explosion near the People’s Party office in Yangon’s Mingala Taungnyunt Township on Upper Pansodan Road destroyed the party’s election campaign billboards and damaged an unknown number of vehicles on Sunday, residents and party members told DVB.
“The bomb exploded with great force but no one was injured. The office building’s glass was broken,” a People’s Party member told DVB on the condition of anonymity. Police are investigating. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Hla Htay, the People’s Party chairperson in Yangon Region, told pro-military media on Dec.22 that those who carried out the attack should “settle with understanding” as his political party is only working for the country in accordance with UEC rules and regulations.
Regime media has not yet reported on the explosion at the People’s Party office in Yangon. Party chairperson and founder Ko Ko Gyi has not made a public statement yet.
Before founding the People’s Party in 2018, Ko Ko Gyi was a leader of the 88 Generation Students Group that fought to end military dictatorship and establish democracy in Myanmar since the nationwide pro-democracy protests in 1988, known as ‘8888 Uprising.’
Over 500 candidates from the People’s Party will compete nationwide in the regime’s 2025-26 elections. But it has no candidates in Arakan, Chin and Karenni states, according to Ko Ko Gyi.
Four out of seven Karenni townships will hold elections. In Arakan, it will be held in three out of 17 townships. In Chinland, polls will be held in five out of nine townships.
Lwin Myint, a People’s Party candidate in Yangon’s Thingangyun Township for the Pyithu Hluttaw, or lower house of parliament, was charged under Section 58 (C) of the Pyithu Hluttaw Election Law on Dec. 18. He is accused of using the word “revolution” in an election campaign video on Nov. 12.
“He was arrested at his home on December 17 and inspected at the police station for hours. He was later released on bail but his phone was seized by the Criminal Investigation Department,” a People’s Party member told DVB on the condition of anonymity.
A pro-military group filed a complaint about Lwin Myint’s two-minute-long video to the Union Election Commission (UEC).
Section 58 (C) of the Pyithu Hluttaw Election Law stipulates that any violation of regulations set by the UEC during the election campaign may result in a maximum punishment of one-year in prison, or a fine of no more than 100,000 MMK ($24.7 USD), or both.
“Yes, I was charged by the township police station but I’m still a candidate for the party. I’ll continue my work in accordance with the regulations set by the UEC,” Lwin Myint said during an interview on Sunday, also claiming that he was attacked by unknown assailants during an election campaign activity earlier this month.
“After complaints by the pro-military group, two of the election campaign billboards with my image in Thingangyun township were destroyed by unknown individuals,” he added.
In his election campaign video, Lwin Myint shared his journey into politics after being jailed for participating in the ‘8888 Uprising’ and jailed at Yangon’s Insein and Magway’s Thayet prisons before he was released in an amnesty.
“My father spent years in jail for his opposition to the Burma Socialist Programme Party [under dictator Ne Win]. My son was released from prison recently for taking part in the 2021 revolution,” Lwin Myint said in the video. He added that his family has supported political prisoners with financial assistance.
A political analyst told DVB on the condition of anonymity that pro-military media and the military’s proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) have been monitoring rival political parties.
Tin Htoo Aung, an independent candidate competing for the Yangon Region Rakhine Ethnic Affairs Minister, and Kyaw Thuya, a Labour Party candidate for constituency 1 in Yangon Region were disqualified by the UEC for alleged “unlawful associations” with banned groups.
Ko Ko Gyi told pro-regime media that an unspecified number of his party candidates were among them. He also claimed that the UEC disrupted his party’s election campaign billboard unveiling ceremony in Yangon’s Landamaw Township on Nov. 28.
A total of 5,032 candidates from political parties are registered with the UEC to compete in the regime elections. Fifty-seven political parties have registered with six, including the USDP, the PPP, and the People’s Party, contesting polls nationwide.
The regime elections will be held in 274 out of Myanmar’s total 330 townships, according to the UEC. Voting will not be held in 56 townships, but will take place in urban areas of another 10. An additional 161 wards and 2,770 village tracts were excluded from voting by the UEC.
The National Unity Government (NUG), a group of elected lawmakers ousted in the 2021 coup, along with the Women’s League of Burma (WLB), an umbrella organization representing Myanmar women’s groups, have called on citizens to boycott and reject the polls.
