According to U Tun Aung Kyaw, a member of the party’s Policy Steering Committee, the Arakan National Party (ANP) does not plan to re-register with the junta’s Union Election Commission (UEC).
The junta’s UEC has announced that the deadline for political parties wishing to contest future elections is May 9, 2025, for submitting their registration applications.
U Tun Aung Kyaw explained that although the ANP had previously submitted its registration, it had been rejected. He added that the party will monitor the situation after the May 9 deadline to see whether it will be officially dissolved.
He said, “If no new registration is submitted by May 9, the party will no longer be considered active. As for us, we can’t predict what will happen next. We had already registered according to the legal procedures, and more than a year had passed without any response before our application was rejected. So, we have no plans to re-register and won’t be re-registering by May 9 either. This decision reflects the consensus among most party leaders. If we don’t re-register, we’ll have to wait and see what announcements come—whether they’ll dissolve us. That’s the current situation.”
The junta’s UEC officially rejected the ANP’s application for registration as a political party on July 1, 2024.
Political observers have noted that the ANP’s situation is similar to that of other major parties like the National League for Democracy (NLD) and the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), both of which were also dissolved for not registering with the junta’s UEC.
U Tun Aung Kyaw emphasized that the ANP, which enjoys significant public support in Rakhine State, is responsible for representing the interests of the Rakhine people.
“We are the political party with the most public support in Rakhine State and have consistently won elections. Because of that public trust and reliance shown in the elections, the ANP has a historical responsibility to protect the national interests of Rakhine State and its people. That’s why we’re observing the situation closely. If political institutions—say, the UEC—approach us in good faith and offer a political space where the ANP can stand firmly, we are open to reconsidering our position,” he said.
The junta has indicated that elections will be held in December or January 2026. So far, it has granted registration to 50 political parties.
