According to NLD candidates in Thaton Township, the hosts of the house in Inn-Wyne Village, Thaton Township, where the NLD organized an election campaign on September 12, were investigated and recorded their signatures on documents by police spies.
“Our party is a registered party. So, we can officially contest elections. We cannot organize voting at places where there are no people. If the people are scared, it can cause disturbances for the polling. If such thing happens to us, we will find the best method for a solution. If this causes disturbances to us and also to the public, we will submit a letter to the election commission. Then, we will continue to find methods that we can use to solve it. That is the last step,” said Daw Khine Khine Lae, a State Hluttaw candidate of NLD, who was being monitored while organizing election campaign.
According to the police station in Thaton Township, the police force did not monitor and make records of photos and videos of the NLD’s election campaigns exclusively, rather, documented every political party’s campaigns.
“This is what we are doing for the candidates’ security. It is not only NLD that we record. We record every party’s campaigns,” said a police officer from Thaton Township police station.
Although locations are appointed for respective parties to conduct campaigns, the parties have to change the places in the village due to weather conditions.
According to Ko Saw Kyaw Moe, a campaign organizer for the NLD, this can affect election campaigns because the police go to investigate and take records of the public, since the public gets threatened.
The Union Election Commission (UEC) stated the election campaign periods, which is from September 8 to November 6, and at the moment, almost every party is conducting an election campaign.
In Mon State, many political parties, including NLD, Mon National Party (MNP), All Mon Regions Democracy Party (AMDP), Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), National Progressive Party (NPP), Phalon-Sawaw Democratic Party, National Democratic Force (NDF) and 88 Generation Student Group and other independent candidates, have begun their respective election campaigns.
