It is reportedly said that the main reason Mon parties lost major votes in the recent nationwide elections is due to having two major Mon parties. This resulted in having separated votes and therefore, a major loss in the elections. However, the author wants to put aside this reason. Rather, based on observations, talk about other reasons. In particular, the number of Mon people in rural areas that were present at the polling stations is only a few.
According to the results, on a Mon State-wide level, only 51.3% of people in Mon State cast a vote. More than half of the eligible voters in 6 townships (out of 10 townships across Mon State), where majority of Mon people live, did not get to vote.
The diagram below states there are over 1.5 million eligible voters as well as the number of voters who voted in the elections, in Mon State. Based on the diagram, we can get the estimated number of eligible voters in Mon State that did not get to vote, and it is roughly 700,000 voters.
51.3% of voters in Mon State
|
No. |
Townships |
Eligible voters |
Voters who voted |
Percentage of Voters |
|
         1 |
Moulmein |
205372 |
118093 |
57.5% |
|
2 |
Thanbyuzayat |
124300 |
56952 |
  45.8% |
|
3 |
Kyaikmayaw |
157468 |
68011 |
 43.2% |
|
4 |
Chaungzone |
127249 |
56573 |
 44.5% |
|
5 |
Mudon |
165376 |
76836 |
 46/5% |
|
6 |
Ye |
168826 |
81719 |
 48.4% |
|
7 |
Thaton |
175938 |
96896 |
 55% |
|
8 |
Paung |
172157 |
85101 |
 49.4% |
|
9 |
Kyaik Hto |
110779 |
74468 |
 67.2% |
|
10 |
Belin |
127021 |
72217 |
 56.9% |
|
 |
 Total |
15,34,486 |
7,86,866 |
 51.3% |
 Mon Parties only focus on Mon voters
In the elections, Mon parties only paid attention to the votes of Mon people. It’s apparent that Mon parties organized campaigns only to attract Mon voters but left out non-Mon voters. More than half of population in Thaton, Belin and Kyaikhto townships are not Mon. Therefore, Mon parties did not hope for high votes in those townships. Thus far, there is no record that Mon parties used to win in Moulmein Township; although 51% of the population in the township is Mon; most of them are government staff. However, if all Mon voters came to vote in the townships of Paung, Chaungzone, Kyaikmayaw, Mudon, Thanbyuzayat and Ye, where the majority of the population is Mon, then Mon parties would most likely win the elections. Thus, in those 6 townships, Mon parties went to compete for the elections thoroughly.
In Mon State, although the majority of population is Mon, there are other ethnicities, including Bamar, Karen, Pa-O, Chinese and Indian. According to the 2014 census, Mon State has over 2 million people, and it is ranked fourth after Rangoon (1), Mandalay (2) and Irrawaddy Region (3) in terms of population density.
Migrants from outside Mon State voted
In the 2010 elections, Mon State only had over 1 million eligible voters. In the 2015 elections, it has half a million more, according to the Mon State Election Sub-commission.
“This is what we gathered from voter lists in accordance with the law. By gathering so, we saw such an increase in the number of voters. This increase includes those who have moved in [the Mon state] about 180 days and applied for Form (3-Ka),“ according to U Hein Lin Htet, of the Mon State Election Sub-commission.
The 2014 census stated that Mon State has over 340,000 migrant people. By this, we can calculate in brief that more than 400,000 migrant people, who are not Mon, in Mon State voted in the 2015 elections. With this current migrant population rate, if non-Mon, migrant people continue to move to Mon State during the next 5 years, the population of Mon people in Mon State won’t reach 50% of the total population.
Large number of Mon people working abroad
According to the 2014 census, the population in Mon State is over 2 million (2,054,393 in total) but the number of the population working abroad both legally and illegally is over 420,000 (426,586 in total). Also, there are millions of Mon, over 18, but they are abroad working and did not get to vote in the 2015 elections. And if we look at advance votes; although they [Burmese people abroad and other areas in Burma] are allowed to cast advance votes, the number of advance votes is only in the tens of thousands.
Various locals did not get to vote
Migrants, now living in Mon State, got to vote even if they did not have all the supporting documents. However, Mon locals from some areas did not have their names on the voter-list and missed voting even after they provided all their documents.
On the election day, November 8, a resident of Lamine Town, named Nai Chain, was not allowed to vote and as a result, he staged a self-protest, by setting his ID card on fire in front of the polling station [see the photo]. This news has gone viral on Facebook and reported by some local media.
Also, everyone knows of the fact that UEC Chairman U Tin Aye confirmed that only 30% of the vote list is correct.
The above points are what election watchers and readers already know. But, the author would like everyone to make a calculation and know the reasons why Mon parties lost major votes.
The large number of migrants in Mon State that voted against the Mon candidates and the hundred thousands of Mon people are working abroad and that did not get to vote. These factors caused Mon parties to lose votes.
Hence, Mon people should not just be concerned that Mon ethnic people did not pay enough attention, did not have much interest in the elections and did not have awareness in politics. Accept that Mon representatives won’t be sitting at the Hluttaw. We should instead take the fact that the majority of Mon people, particularly in rural areas, did not get the chance to vote, and as a result, Mon parties lost in the elections.
