IMNA : Village Peace and Development Council (VPDC) members in Mon State’s Mudon Township have prohibited the only ethnically Mon party from openly campaigning in the villages of Kamawet and Kwan Hlar.
According to residents, the All Mon Regions Democracy Party (AMDP) has been banned from campaigning in the two villages since early October; the orders for the ban are suspected to have come from the Burmese government’s proxy party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).
An organizer from the AMDP reported that village headmen ordered party members to cease their campaigns in the two communities, claiming that the time to campaign in Mon State communities has come to an end, despite the fact that the USDP continues to campaign openly.
“In the villages the ban for the party’s campaign came through from the VPDC staff, it has lead to harassment for our party, now we have campaign in the houses of those who are close with us very quietly. The USDP party can campaign freely in the village, the village headmen don’t say anything, also some village they [the USDP] campaign in the VPDC office” said the organizer from AMDP.
AMDP members have long insisted that the party has conducted all of its campaigning in accordance with the Burmese Election Commission’s laws; despite this, the party has faced numerous governmental delays while running its campaigns.
According to Kamawet and Kwan Hlar residents, local VPDC authorities have kept close tabs on the AMDP’s campaigns in the two communities, following villagers to homes where private AMDP campaigns are being held, checking individuals who support the party, and even threatening villagers interested in joining the party’s campaign.
AMDP leader Nai Nwe Thein told IMNA that the AMDP will continue to campaign with diligence, despite whatever difficulties presented to the party.
Nai Nwe Thein also claimed that despite numerous disturbances from the Burmese authorities, the party has managed to gain the support of the Mon people through discrete campaigning.
34 candidates from the AMDP will run for constituencies in Mon State, Karen State and Tennaserim Division on November 7th, 2010.
While the AMDP and many ethnic minority parties have struggled with numerous government roadblocks during their campaigns, stories that the USDP has been recruiting new members by giving villagers permission to engage in illegal activities -including opening phone lines, gambling, and playing in Burma’s lottery – are widespread, and have yet to be investigated by Burmese authorities.
