Asah, Jaloon Htaw : The Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC) in Ye ordered village headmen throughout Mon state that the Mon people are not to wear Mon tradition clothing on election day.
The TPDC made this order five days ago so that the village headmen would have time to let all villagers know the dress restrictions, one village headman from Ye Township explained.
“The Authority [Burmese government] wants us to make sure no one is wearing Mon sarongs. They think if the people wear Mon clothing then they will support the All Mon Region Democracy Party (AMDP). Mon dress and voting preferences are not related at all,” the village headman added.
Residents from Ye Town have expressed mixed feelings towards the ban. Some are scared and some are not. “Some will not obey this order. I myself will wear Mon traditional clothing,” the village explained.
To IMNA, this village headman mentioned that many residents in Duya village, Ye Township, have not yet heard of the ban on wearing Mon traditional clothing for the elections.
One villager from Hangan in Ye Township said the AMDP explained to the residents during that the Burmese authorities do not want residents and polling agents [at the polling booth stations] to look the same on election day. She added, that “on election day, people who vote can wear traditional Mon clothing but the [polling] agents cannot wear their traditional clothing.”
As the news of the clothing ban was spreading among the Mon people, the State Election Commission told the AMDP chairman that it is only agents who cannot wear traditional Mon clothing. According to the AMDP chairman, Nai Junnu Mon, “Mon agents cannot wear Mon clothing at the polling stations, but they can wear their own pin.”
The restrictions for how to dress on election day are currently unclear.
