A heady mix of ethnic politics, environmental concerns and thirst for rural development is driving the election campaign around Inle Lake. The sight of politicians taking part in traditional tribal dancing to the sound of drums is becoming increasingly common in Shan State’s Nyaungshwe township.

Many residents complain that the Shan State government has done too little to bring development to the region or to protect the lake – a major tourist attraction – from degradation that has seen water levels dropping catastrophically in recent years.

“The water level is sinking day by day,” said U Soe Myint Oo, 48, a resident of nearby Hir Ywama village.

U Soe Myint Oo makes a living by selling his paintings to tourists. He fears that the shallower the water, the fewer tourists will visit the lake. “My vote goes to the party that has a plan for our region and for the country,” he said.

According to the township election sub-commission, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, the National League for Democracy, the Inn National Development Party, the Inn National League, the Shan National League for Democracy and the Federal Union Party will vie for one seat in the Upper House, one in the Lower House, two in the state parliament and one in ethnic affairs.

In the Inle region, which comprises 444 villages in 35 village groups and eight quarters in Nyaungshwe township, about 80,000 voters are registered out of a population of 120,000.

U Chan Phyu, 57, an ethnic Intha from Se Son village, is a farmer. He hasn’t checked his name on the voters list, and he doesn’t know how to vote. But he believes his village administrator will expect to see him go into the polling booth on November 8.

He hopes to be able to vote for a candidate who promises to bring electricity to his village, preferably a fellow Intha. But he says the Inn National Development Party, which he favoured in 2010, broke its promise to develop the village, so he will vote for a different Intha party, one run by his friends.

“All the surrounding villages have got electricity but us,” he said. In fact, nearly half the villages in the region, almost 200 in all, still lack power.

The Inn National Development party won four of the five local seats in 2010. The Inn National League has been formed just recently.

Residents say they have seen the red NLD flag appearing in surrounding villages, while the USDP quietly points to the roads and bridges for which it claims credit. U Soe Myit Oo, a villager in Hir Ywama, said, “The USDP has provided concrete for our village roads.”

U Sai Lon Kyaw, the USDP candidate in Shan State, said the ruling party has a track record of supporting development in the area, and has set aside K3 million for campaigning in each township.

“We are not rich enough to give money to every village. Besides, that would be illegal,” he said, adding that there was no harm in funding the hosts who provided food for campaign workers.

The Inn National Development Party said its finances ran only to handing out flyers in every village in the neighbourhood.

“If we win, we will use the income of the region to pay for the preservation of the lake and for local development,” said Daw Kin Hla, a party candidate, speaking at a rally on October 3.

The new Inn National League party says it intends to campaign in every village, also focusing on preservation and economic and social development, party secretary U Tint Soe told The Myanmar Times.

The NLD is taking its campaign from village to village every evening. Candidate U Tun Hlaing said the party faces opposition from the hard-line Buddhist nationalist organisation Ma Ba Tha and anti-Muslim propaganda. “They attack and insult us,” he said, adding that the party also had to contend with vote-buying and the absence of many names from the voters lists.

“I will give power to the people and I will serve the people,” he tells people who come to his rallies.

Villager U Paw Oo, 80, voted in 1990 and 2010. He will vote again this year, and hopes to be around to vote again in 2020. “I could die any time, but I hope to see good government before I die,” he said, without mentioning which party he supported.

A young boatman from Se Son village, Myo Aung, 20, said he didn’t understand politics or elections. He expected his village administrator to tell him how to vote. “I have to vote because everyone else will. But I don’t have high hopes,” he said.