The Yangon election commission said it is looking in to allegations that free and fair elections have been obstructed in the remote Coco Islands.
The National League for Democracy alleges it is still being blocked from travelling to the 10-by-2-kilometre constituency and had to cancel its latest intended campaign there this week.
U Ko Ko, chair of the Yangon election commission, told The Myanmar Times yesterday that the government has a responsibility to allow fair competition.
“The UEC has already given equal chances to all political parties so the government cannot play political favouritism,” he said.
He added that after the election, the UEC will investigate the NLD’s complaint that they have not been given a chance to campaign on the island.
At a press conference on October 11, the NLD said their candidates for the tiny constituency cannot campaign because of a complicated travel permission process that requires approval from both the Yangon Region government and the navy.
“They have forced us to cancel our trip plans several times for so many reasons,” said U Win Min, the NLD’s candidate for Coco Islands’ lower house seat. He said the party has appealed to many different government departments and several officials, to no avail.
The party received a letter from the Yangon Region government this month alleging that there are no restrictions on travel to the islands, and political parties are free to go there as they wish. A separate letter said the NLD candidates could access the islands only after proving the party had received permission from the relevant department.
“According to their reply, we can only travel [to Coco Islands] with permission from the navy and the Inland Water Transport authorities, and we can only travel there by a private passenger vessel,” U Win Min said.
He added that the Tatmadaw has supported the USDP’s candidates, including former Navy Chief General Thura Thet Swe, in obtaining air transportation to the far-flung island. When the NLD candidates asked if they could join the trip, they were denied for security reasons, U Win Min said.
The Coco Islands are about 300 kilometres from the mainland and are home to 1693 residents, including 326 civil servants, according to census data. The constituency has three seats up for grabs, including one in the Pyithu Hluttaw and two in the Yangon Region parliament. It also elects a representative to the Amyotha Hluttaw, but the Coco Islands shares its representative with several much larger mainland townships. According to the Yangon election commission, there are 1570 voters on the island.
Last month, the NLD also raised concerns about a possible inflation of the advanced ballots for naval officials posted there. NLD central executive committee member U Win Htein said officially there are 200 navy personnel on the islands, but for the purposes of the election, that number inexplicably rose to 700.
During the NLD’s press conference this weekend, a Coco Islands resident and NLD supporter said by phone that the islanders have been under pressure to vote for the USDP.
“Authorities threatened the government servants’ and daily workers’ salaries and ordered them to vote for the USDP here,” said the resident who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retribution. The resident said 1200 soldiers from Battalion 27 were transferred from Hainggyi Island in Ayeyarwady Region to the Coco Islands to staff the military airport and shipping port.
