Arakan National Party wins the most seats in Rakhine despite vote cancellations that weakened its hand

Rakhine residents resoundingly rejected the NLD to hand a majority of seats to the ethnonationalist party

Phadu Tun Aung

Published on Nov 10, 2020

Thant Mrat Khaing

Published on Nov 10, 2020

The nationalist ANP won eight of the 13 available national parliamentary seats on Sunday (Phadu Tun Aung/Myanmar Now)

The Arakan National Party (ANP) has won eight out of the 13 national parliamentary seats up for grabs in Rakhine state, a resounding show of support for the party in one of the few areas of the country where voters rejected the NLD.

The ANP’s position was considerably weakened when the election commission cancelled voting last month in numerous constituencies where it expected to win.

The party nonetheless secured resounding wins in areas where the vote went ahead, signalling a widespread rejection of a government that supported military attacks against the Arakan Army in a conflict that has thrown the state into chaos.

It won four Pyithu Hluttaw, or lower house, seats in Sittwe, Ramree, Taungup and Munaung and four Amyotha Hluttaw seats in Sittwe, Kyaukphyu, Munaung, Ramree and Ann, and Taungup.

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It also secured seven seats in the Rakhine State Hluttaw, two each in Sittwe, Ramree and Munaung, and one in Taungup.

Even in southern areas of Rakhine, where the NLD has more influence, the ANP won a majority of constituencies.

“The Rakhine people have more appreciation for ethnonationalism and more understanding of self-determination,” said Kyaw Win Chay of the ANP’s central victory committee. “They’re starting to crave federalism more.”

In 2015, the ANP won 22 national seats - a majority of the 29 that were available in the state at the time - and 22 of the 35 elected seats in the State Hluttaw.

This year only 14 seats were up for grabs in the State Hluttaw because of voting cancellations. Nine townships in northern Rakhine had elections cancelled entirely, while others had partial cancellations.

Only Thandwe, Munaung, Gwa and Ramree had full elections while polling stations opened in parts of Sittwe, Taungup, Ann and Kyaukphyu.

Two other Rakhine parties, the Arakan League for Democracy (ALD) and the Arakan Front Party (AFP) also competed this year, but fared less well.

Dr Tin Mar Aung, an ALD candidate and former personal assistant to Aung San Suu Kyi, lost out to the ANP’s Khin Myo Yin for a State Hluttaw seat in Taungup.

“I lost. We can’t tell for sure what’s the next step because we haven’t had a meeting yet,” Dr Tin Mar Aung said.

Among the five national parliamentary seats that the ANP did not win, the NLD took three and the USDP and the AFP took one each.

The NLD won in Gwa and Thandwe townships, claiming two seats in the Pyithu Hluttaw, one in the Amyotha Hluttaw and four in the State Hluttaw.

“It was a very tight race,” said NLD candidate Ye Khaung Nyunt, who won the Gwa township Pyithu Hluttaw seat.

The AFP won in Kyaukphyu, picking up a seat in the Pyithu Hluttaw and two seats in the State Hluttaw.

Votes for the Chin Ethnic Affairs Minister position in Rakhine have not been fully counted yet.

Than Lwin, who won a State Hluttaw seat for the AFP, said being an MP in Rakhine state came with “more responsibility”.

“There’s a lot of work to be done,” he said.

Phadu Tun Aung

Phadu Tun Aung is Reporter with Myanmar Now. He is based in Sittwe, Rakhine State.

Thant Mrat Khaing

Thant Mrat Khaing is Reporter with Myanmar Now. He is based in Maungdaw, Rakhine State.

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Military shoots, kills civilian in Depayin following murder of administrator’s daughters

After three deaths of alleged regime allies in the area, the junta’s armed forces storm villages and open fire on locals

Myanmar Now

Published on Jun 16, 2021

21-year-old Aung San from Boke in Depayin Township was killed by regime troops when they opened fire on his village on June 14 (Supplied)

Regime soldiers opened fire on villages in Sagaing Region’s Depayin Township on Monday after both a former local administrator and the daughters of a current junta-allied administrator were killed by unknown assailants one day earlier.

One villager was killed and another was seriously injured in Monday’s attack.

On Sunday evening, locals in the Depayin Township village of Kyi found the bodies of two women—Than Than Sint, a school teacher in her 30s, and San, in her 40s—with visible stab wounds near a creek. Their father, Thein Zaw, the village’s administrator under the military regime, fled the area soon after.

Junta-run newspaper Kyemon alleged on June 15 that “armed terrorists” were responsible for the women’s deaths.

Bo Tint, the former administrator of Inpin village, also in Depayin, was shot in the head on Sunday evening as well. He had been accused of being a military informant regarding anti-coup activities due to his close ties to the army.

After the three deaths on Sunday, 16 military trucks were subsequently deployed to villages throughout the township. On Monday afternoon, the junta’s army first opened fire on residents of Satpyarkyin and Boke, two miles west of Kyi.

“They stormed the villages for no apparent reason. They used a lot of force,” a Boke resident said.

Twenty-one-year-old Boke local Aung San was shot in the chest and died immediately. Thike Htwe, 22 was shot in the abdomen and in the pubic region and is seriously injured.

Villagers feared Thike would be arrested and tortured if he were taken to the hospital, so he was being treated in a safe house at the time of reporting, according to residents.

Hundreds of soldiers then stormed the villages of Kyi, Inpin, Nyaung Hla and Yin Kyay, reportedly chasing and shooting at locals.

At around 6pm on Monday, fighting broke out between the army and the local People's Defence Force (PDF) near Inpin. The clash lasted more than 30 minutes.

Two regime soldiers were killed and seven were injured in the fighting, according to the local PDF.

On Tuesday morning, around 300 soldiers in 22 military trucks opened fire in Nyaung Hla. Further information about the incident was not available at the time of reporting.

Since April, the junta’s troops have been deployed to the Sagaing Region villages where there have been anti-coup activities in Depayin, Yinmabin, Kani, Taze, Ayataw and Mingin townships.

Myanmar Now

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Junta’s soldiers burn down Magwe Region village

An elderly husband and wife are feared dead after they hid in their home, which was set on fire by the regime troops

Myanmar Now

Published on Jun 16, 2021

The smoldering remains of homes in Kinma, as seen by residents who returned on June 16, one day after the junta’s troops set fire to the village (Supplied)

Myanmar army troops and police officers set fire to Kinma—a village in Magwe Region’s Pauk Township—on Tuesday, destroying nearly 80 percent of its houses, according to residents.

An elderly husband and wife are now missing after staying behind and hiding in their home as other residents fled. Locals fear that they burned to death in the attack.

Kinma’s residents left their homes on Tuesday in anticipation of the raid by regime soldiers, leaving food and water for elderly people who were unable to run with them, a Pauk local said. They had planned to return to check on them the following day.

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Household items are seen amongst the remains of homes burnt down by Myanmar army troops in Kinma, Pauk Township (Supplied)

Kinma is home to some 1,000 residents and is 18 miles from Pauk, a town in central Magwe Region bordering Chin State. By Wednesday morning, images posted on social media by Pauk locals indicated that much of the village had been burnt down.

Because they had been hiding in their home at the time of the attack, locals fear that husband and wife Mya Maung, 85, and Kyi Hmein, 83, burned to death. However, villagers who returned to Kinma on Wednesday morning said they were unable to find their bodies, as they were forced to flee again once they heard the troops were coming back.

One of the villagers told Myanmar Now that he had witnessed the couple’s son crying amidst the ashes of his parents’ home.

He added that only around 50 houses—out of some 230—were still intact.

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The burnt bodies of livestock, including goats and pigs, are seen in the village of Kinma on June 16, one day after junta soldiers set fire to the community (Supplied)

Conflict in the area intensified after June 12, when gunmen on motorbikes shot at the house of the junta-allied administrator of Deedotekwin village, more than 12 miles from Kinma.

One of the motorcycles broke down and was left behind in Deedotekwin by the gunmen. The regime authorities traced the bike’s licence plate to Kinma, according to a local. Policemen and plainclothes soldiers then went to the village in search of the suspect.

Kinma’s villagers fled when they got word of the junta’s armed forces’ arrival. Seeing no one in the village, the troops then set fire to the village, said the Pauk resident.

Be Tu, a man from Pauk who had contact with the civilian resistance in Kinma, said that gunfire was exchanged between local fighters and the regime troops outside of the village as they arrived in the area on Tuesday.

He said that the shootout ended at around 4pm, and estimated that up to 15 junta soldiers were killed and one local was injured. Myanmar Now was not able to independently verify the number of casualties.

After the clash, the surviving junta troops and policemen set fire to Kinma.

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Karenni resistance fighters agree to ceasefire as number of IDPs passes 100,000

The move was announced on Tuesday following talks with military officials and religious leaders

Myanmar Now

Published on Jun 16, 2021

The Myanmar military has damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings, including churches, since clashes with Karenni resistance fighters began in late May. (Supplied)

Karenni resistance forces announced the suspension of attacks on regime troops in northern Kayah (Karenni) and southern Shan states on Tuesday amid a growing crisis facing displaced civilians in the region.

The Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF), a coalition of anti-junta forces formed on May 31, made the decision following talks with military and religious leaders late last week.

The move comes as the number of civilians displaced by the nearly month-old conflict has surpassed 100,000, according to the United Nations human rights agency OHCHR.

The KNDF consists of civilians from Loikaw, Demoso, and Nan Mei Khon in Kayah State and Moebye and Pekhon in southern Shan State, as well as ethnic armed forces based in the region.

The KNDF did not specify how long its ceasefire would last, but said it would continue to oppose the military junta in various ways. It also urged people to be united, prepared and cautious.

On June 11, representatives of three Karenni armed groups involved in the KNDP met with army personnel from the Eastern Command and Christian religious leaders in Taunggyi, Shan State, to discuss the ongoing situation.

The armed groups that attended the meeting were reportedly the Kayan New Land Party, the Karenni National People's Liberation Front, and the Karenni National Peace and Development Party.

“The armed groups talked to the military council about the armed conflict. Our religious groups mainly discussed allowing humanitarian channels for displaced people,” a Catholic priest from Loikaw told Myanmar Now.

The church, which has taken a leading role in efforts to mitigate harm to civilians caught in the conflict, has also been a target of attacks, with at least eight churches damaged or destroyed by the military since fighting began.

Religious leaders demanded that relief workers be allowed to transport food and other supplies safely and without hindrance.

“The commander said he would consider measures for the displaced people. The people are in real trouble. Living in the jungle during the rainy season is very difficult. The elderly and children are especially vulnerable,” the priest said.

During the meeting, no agreement was reached to guarantee the security of displaced locals, but the situation is likely to be more stable than before, he added.

“I haven’t heard any gunfire for a day or two since the meeting,” he said, noting that some civilians have also returned to their homes in recent days.

“But people are still very worried. There’s a ceasefire, but they don’t know how long it will last. They’re worried that troops will come and arrest them at night if they return. They are still in so much fear.”

Some residents who returned to Demoso on Tuesday discovered that their homes had been destroyed during the clashes, according to local sources.

The military has used heavy artillery and airstrikes against local anti-regime resistance forces since clashes began in the area in late May.

In addition to killing numerous civilians in these attacks, the military has also imposed restrictions on the transport of food, fuel and other essential commodities into Kayah State since May 28, creating widespread shortages of basic necessities.

On June 11, the day that a six-day-old boy died of a cold while his family was fleeing from clashes in Pekhon Township, the military set fire to an ambulance and vehicles carrying food and medical supplies for displaced people in the township.

In an article published by a state-run newspaper, the regime claimed that it had merely seized supplies from “terrorists”.