Japan’s special envoy to Myanmar, Yohei Sasakawa, travelled to northern Rakhine state on Saturday to meet with political parties in areas where voting was suspended during the November 8 election due to conflict.
Sasakawa, who is also the chair of the Nippon Foundation, flew to the state capital Sittwe via military jet on Saturday morning and met with party representatives in the afternoon.
“He expressed a desire to meet with Rakhine parties,” Tun Aung Kyaw, an advisor to the Arakan National Party (ANP), told Myanmar Now.
On the agenda, he added, were “issues surrounding the election and what the Nippon Foundation could do to help Rakhine.”
The trip follows meetings earlier in the month with senior government and military leaders in Naypyitaw.
Sasakawa met with the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, both before and after the election and with State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi on November 10.
In an interview published on November 21, Japan’s ambassador to Myanmar, Ichiro Maruyama, said that Sasakawa had called on the leaders to “hold elections as soon as possible in Rakhine state where elections could not be held in November 8.”
Voting had been suspended in parts of the state due to clashes between the military and the Arakan Army (AA), which issued a statement on November 12 calling for by-elections to allow local people in the affected areas to vote.
A major sticking point is the status of the AA, which has been designated by the government as a terrorist organization.
“To have a fair election, it’s of extreme importance for the election to be held in the remaining nine townships. So I hope it does happen,” said Japan’s special envoy to Myanmar, Yohei Sasakawa
At a press conference last Friday, military spokesman Brig-Gen Zaw Min Tun said that there had been precedents of this status being revoked after negotiations. He added that while no direct negotiations had taken place, there had been “personal or organizational interventions.”
He also noted that no clashes had taken place in Rakhine since the election.
In its statement, the AA said the military should end offensive operations, announce a nationwide ceasefire, and hold a by-election as soon as possible. It also said that it was willing to cooperate to create favourable conditions for such an election.
The military welcomed the AA’s statement and said it would do its best to negotiate for a by-election in these regions.
Speaking to reporters in Sittwe after returning from Kyauktaw and Buthidaung townships, Sasakawa said that he would discuss the matter with the Union Election Commission (UEC).
“After observing the region in person, I’ll have a meeting with the UEC once I get back to Naypyitaw today and propose to them that the election should be held in the nine townships. I will inform them that the public in these areas are waiting for the day of the election,” he said.
He added that the Tatmadaw commander-in-chief was also eager for the by-election to take place, and that his trip to Rakhine was planned by the military.
“To have a fair election, it’s of extreme importance for the election to be held in the remaining nine townships. So I hope it does happen,” he said.
He said he had requested that both the military and the AA suspend their military operations in northern Rakhine so that the election can go ahead.
The ANP, which won the most seats in the parts of Rakhine state that were included in the election, said that the envoy had informed them of his plans.
“Mainly, we were told about the negotiations between the military and the AA to hold an election in the townships that were left out of the 2020 election. He’ll present what he heard and saw to Naypyitaw,” ANP spokesperson Aye Nu Sein told Myanmar Now.
