The chair of one of Rakhine’s most prominent political forces, the Arakan National Party (ANP), has suggested some of the party’s top leaders are not fit to continue in their roles after one joined the military council and another became a negotiator for a rebel group.
Tha Tun Hla said he has asked ANP’s policy board members Aye Nu Sein and Oo Hla Saw if they would like to continue working for the party.
Aye Nu Sein became a member of the military’s so-called State Administration Council in February last year, while it was recently revealed that Oo Hla Saw is a representative for the United League of Arakan (ULA), the political wing of the Arakan Army (AA).
“There could be people who are not fit to continue working for the party even among the top leaders,” Tha Tun Hla told Myanmar Now on Wednesday.
He put the question to members of the party’s policy leadership board as well as members of the central executive committee and the central committee, he said. They are scheduled to respond by March 15.
The ANP’s central committee held an online conference on February 27 and March 6, after which they released a statement that said the party leaders seemed distant from the party.
The statement said party members had the right to join whatever organisation or party they liked, but that the ANP would no longer associate with party members who are currently working for other organisations.
Forty of the central committee’s more than 80 members attended the online conference, where they also discussed building and reforming the party.
“There are certain explanations that a party member has to give if they want to leave, according to the policies of the party,” Tha Tun Hla said. “There are rules and regulations that mean a party member requires the permission of the central executive committee in order to officially leave.”
But he added: “I think it’s safe to assume that such a rule doesn’t work under current conditions. That is why we decided that one could leave as they pleased.”
Myanmar Now was unable to reach Oo Hla Saw or Aye Nu Sein for comment.
Oo Hla Saw, a former MP for Mrauk-U Township, attended the junta’s Union Day celebration in Naypyitaw last month, reportedly in his role as a ULA representative.
