2015 Election

The Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement signing ceremony on Oct 15 was Thein Sein’s big chance to add some much-needed credence to the national elections to be held next Sunday. But despite Thein Sein and Gen Mutu Sae Po’s optimism, not everyone is convinced the NCA will bring stability to the country. In fact, ethnic groups say fighting continues unabated, killing civilians…

The people of Burma will go the polls on November 8, 2015. Karen News talked to a wide range of people to get their views on the election and what they hoped it would deliver. Many voters In Burma remain skeptical that the elections will be free and fair. With the 25% reserved for the military in the Parliament, people…

As Burma’s national elections loom closer, voters in Karen State fear ‘dirty tricks’ on finding their names have been removed from electoral rolls. Thousands of voters in Kawkareik Town were upset when they found their names not included in the second round announcement of voters listed as eligible to vote in the November 8, national elections. Kawkareik Town residents said…

Burma’s Union Election Committee has announced highly restrictive regulations on statements made by political parties in the upcoming nationwide election. The regulations include vetting statements made by political parties and limit them to 15 minutes on state-controlled media outlets and an outright ban of criticism against the country’s all-powerful military. The UEC said that information “that can split the Tatmadaw…

Two senior members of the Karen State’s National League for Democracy resigned from the party to join the newly formed Karen Party. According to a Karen state NLD official, Saw Poe Wah, vice chairman of NLD Karen State, and Saw K’lue Htaw, administrative committee member from Hpa-an district resigned and will contest as representatives of the Karen National Party (KNP)…

Community-based-organizations in Karen State are coming together to increase their efforts to educate people about voting in the national elections to be held on November 8, 2015. A workshop on voter education, led by the Nyein Civil Organization was held together with Karen community-based-organizations at Hpa-an in the second week of July, to raise awareness about voting in the various…

A senior member of the Hpa-an based, Plone-Sgaw Democratic Party (PSDP), a Karen political party, said that they are planning to contest all constituencies in Karen State for the November 8, 2015 general election. Speaking to Karen News, the party’s vice-chairman Mahn Aung Pyi Soe said. “We will contest all 36 constituencies including places where Burman, Pa-o, Mon ethnic people…

The Karen Women Empowerment Group (KWEG), a community based group in Hpa-an ran a training for villagers to help them understand how to vote and what their rights are related to elections. The three-day training workshop was held from 24 to 26 of March at the KWEG office in Hpa-an. The training was attended by 20 villagers from Hpa-an, Kawkareik,…

The vice president of the Karen People’s Party, Saw Say Wah, told Karen News that its party will be running candidates in more than 60 constituencies in the Irrawaddy Division in the 2015 Election. “In the meeting we held in late November, we nominated and selected our party’s representatives to run for seats in Burma’s Union Parliament. At the same…

A Hla Ka Myin village leader is determined that the population of voting aged people in his area are verified and ready to vote in the 2015 Election in Karen State. The village elder, Saw Htay Kyaw Myo, told Karen News that he began the verification process on November 13, 2014. “In gathering data, the first and most crucial thing…