Recently, the junta's Union Election Commission (EC) rejected the application of 14 independent candidates from the Kachin State Progressive Party (KSPP) to contest the election on November 7. Led by Dr. Manan Tu Ja, the KSPP was founded in March 2009. It registered at the EC to take part in the election but permission was not granted. “The Irrawaddy” reporter Ko Htwe interviewed Tu Raw, the KSPP general secretary, about the rejection.
Question: How many of you were rejected and when?
Answer: Fourteen of us were rejected on September 13. Most of us are from the KSPP central committee.
Q: So, none of you can contest the election anymore, right?
A: According to the Election Law, those who were rejected have the right to appeal. I have heard a couple of people will appeal to the state EC but I won't.
Q: What do you want to say about the EC's rejection of you and the other candidates?
A: Personally, I felt it was unfair. I felt that we, citizens of this country, didn't even have the right to enjoy our civil rights.
Q: What are going to do?
A: As we can't stand as a political party anymore, we will work as much we can for peace, justice and development in Kachin State. These issues are all interrelated. We can work for the development of our state only if there is peace in our region. Likewise, to bring peace to our state there must be justice. If possible, we want to talk about this in the parliament, but since we don't have the opportunity anymore we will raise awareness among our people, the youth and the authorities any way we can so they will understand these concepts better.
Q: The EC approved the registration of one Kachin party but said no to the KSPP and independent candidates who were associated with the KSPP. What do you think of that?
A: I think there were two reasons. The first one is the support we have gained in our area. People in Kachin State, regardless of ethnicity or religion, fully support us. I dare say that even government servants, soldiers and police here support us. So, they [the authorities] probably thought that in order for the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) to win in Kachin State there must be no KSPP. Another reason is related to the transformation of the Kachin Independent Organization (KIO) into a border guard force (BGF). The military regime has ordered the KIO to transform [its military wing, the Kachin Independence Army, into a BGF] but the KIO refused. So, the regime alleged that the KSPP had connections with the KIO. In fact, I think authorities just used this as an excuse to reject us.
Q: What do you think of the regime's accusation with regard to the KSPP's relations with the KIO?
A: We are only related to the KIO ethnically since we all are Kachin. We don't have any political or working relations with the KIO. As a political party representing Kachin State, we wanted support from people and organizations in our area. So we asked all organizations including the KIO to support us, that's all. We can't exist without their support, however.
Question: How many of you were rejected and when?
Answer: Fourteen of us were rejected on September 13. Most of us are from the KSPP central committee.
Q: So, none of you can contest the election anymore, right?
A: According to the Election Law, those who were rejected have the right to appeal. I have heard a couple of people will appeal to the state EC but I won't.
Q: What do you want to say about the EC's rejection of you and the other candidates?
A: Personally, I felt it was unfair. I felt that we, citizens of this country, didn't even have the right to enjoy our civil rights.
Q: What are going to do?
A: As we can't stand as a political party anymore, we will work as much we can for peace, justice and development in Kachin State. These issues are all interrelated. We can work for the development of our state only if there is peace in our region. Likewise, to bring peace to our state there must be justice. If possible, we want to talk about this in the parliament, but since we don't have the opportunity anymore we will raise awareness among our people, the youth and the authorities any way we can so they will understand these concepts better.
Q: The EC approved the registration of one Kachin party but said no to the KSPP and independent candidates who were associated with the KSPP. What do you think of that?
A: I think there were two reasons. The first one is the support we have gained in our area. People in Kachin State, regardless of ethnicity or religion, fully support us. I dare say that even government servants, soldiers and police here support us. So, they [the authorities] probably thought that in order for the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) to win in Kachin State there must be no KSPP. Another reason is related to the transformation of the Kachin Independent Organization (KIO) into a border guard force (BGF). The military regime has ordered the KIO to transform [its military wing, the Kachin Independence Army, into a BGF] but the KIO refused. So, the regime alleged that the KSPP had connections with the KIO. In fact, I think authorities just used this as an excuse to reject us.
Q: What do you think of the regime's accusation with regard to the KSPP's relations with the KIO?
A: We are only related to the KIO ethnically since we all are Kachin. We don't have any political or working relations with the KIO. As a political party representing Kachin State, we wanted support from people and organizations in our area. So we asked all organizations including the KIO to support us, that's all. We can't exist without their support, however.
