The People’s Party founder and Chairperson Ko Ko Gyi told media that the regime’s Union Election Commission (UEC) disrupted an unveiling ceremony for the party’s election campaign billboard in Yangon’s Lanmadaw Township on Nov. 28.
“We had permission from the UEC to hold the event. But the UEC’s Lanmadaw township chairperson appeared, took photos of the event and stopped us. I don’t know what that means,” Ko Ko Gyi told a press conference in Yangon’s Pazundaung Township on Nov. 29.
Ko Ko Gyi, a former leader of the 88 Generation Students Group which has pushed for democracy in Myanmar since 1988, showed photo documentation of the UEC disruption of his event during the press conference.
Photos of the People’s Party event on Nov. 28 showed UEC chairperson for Lanmadaw Township Nay Lin Aung in attendance, along with members of the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).
The UEC announced that all political party campaign activities began 60 days ahead of the regime’s 2025-26 elections, on Oct. 28.
Political parties, including the USDP, launched their campaigns in Yangon, Naypyidaw, Mandalay and Sagaing regions. The UEC has forbidden parties from holding large gatherings in cities, due to security concerns.
“Ko Ko Gyi can complain to the UEC. The UEC can take action if [Nay Lin Aung] did wrong,” Kyi Myint, a veteran lawyer from Myanmar, told DVB.
More than 500 candidates from People’s Party, which was founded in 2018, will compete nationwide in the regime elections, except in Arakan, Chinland and Karenni states, according to Ko Ko Gyi.
The UEC told pro-military media on Dec. 1 that People’s Party candidate Lwin Myint is under investigation following an election campaign video, where he allegedly used the word “revolution”, posted to his official social media account on Nov. 12.
Lwin Myint, 68, is a former political prisoner and a candidate in Yangon’s Thingangyun Township for the Pyithu Hluttaw, or the lower house of parliament.
The UEC announced that 86 political party candidates were disqualified, including People’s Pioneer Party (PPP) founder Thet Thet Khine, on Oct. 25. Ko Ko Gyi told pro-regime media that an unspecified number of his party’s candidates were among those disqualified.
A political analyst told DVB on the condition of anonymity that pro-regime media and the USDP have been monitoring rival political parties.
Residents of Pakokku Township told DVB that the Shan and Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP) candidate Wai Lin Htet was detained by an unknown armed group at his family home in Ayekyun village, on Nov. 28.
The SNDP Chairperson Sai Ai Pao refused to comment to the Associated Press about the incident because of concerns about the Wai Lin Htet’s safety.
Founded in 2010, the SNDP party also known as the White Tiger Party, has over 130 offices across the country, including in Yangon and Ayeyarwady. It is one of six parties, including the USDP, the PPP, and the People’s Party, that will contest polls nationwide
Residents claimed that at least 15 civilians from Pakokku’s Ayekyun and another village nearby were arrested by regime forces following Wai Lin Htet’s disappearance.
A total of 5,032 candidates from political parties have registered with the UEC. Fifty-seven political parties will contest the regime elections, which will be held in 274 out of Myanmar’s total 330 townships.
The National League for Democracy (NLD) party was dissolved by the UEC for failing to re-register in March 2023. State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, who were detained during the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021, have been held incommunicado ever since.
The NLD, which was founded during the pro-democracy uprising in 1988, stated that 102 of the party’s members, including two members of parliament, have been killed and 1,905 have been arrested since the coup. This figure includes 144 members of parliament elected in 2020.
Several NLD members have joined the National Unity Government (NUG), which is a group of elected lawmakers ousted in the 2021 coup. The NUG, the Karen National Union (KNU), and the Arakan Army (AA), have all called on Myanmar citizens to boycott and oppose the regime’s “sham” elections.
