Min Thaw Lawi – This morning at 7am, members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) gathered at the Dhamma-Haewon pagoda in Three Pagodas Pass to pray for victory in today’s by-election.
The ceremony was allowed to proceed only after being granted permission by the governor and the TPP police.
“We invited three monks [to the ceremony] and vowed to honor the Buddhist precepts (Thi-La). We listened to the monks chant ‘Pa-rate’ (Buddha’s magic mantra), expressed our good wishes to all living things, and made suitable offerings to the monks,” said U Than Lwin, the Township-Chairman of the NLD at Three Pagodas Pass.
To ensure by-election success, party members donated 30,000 Thai Baht in cash to the monastery and assisted the monks by carrying bricks and sand to a pagoda that is under construction on the monastery’s compound, described one party member.
The ceremony closed with shouts of NLD slogans such as “The NLD must win,” and the traditional Mon ritual of scattering money, flowers, and food, known as “the rain of gold and silver.”
“Our party members prayed and chanted ‘Glory to the NLD,’ ‘Long Live Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,’ and ‘Health and Wealth to the Civilians,’ then showered ‘the rain of gold and silver,’” said Township-Chairman U Than Lwin.
The NLD office at TPP was inaugurated on February 26th with 250 staff members, a signboard set-up and an opening ceremony.
