Myanmar’s junta enacts new political party law

Myanmar’s military-controlled government has enacted a new law on the registration of political parties that will make it difficult for opposition groups to mount a serious challenge to army-backed candidates in a general election set to take place later this year.

The new electoral law, published in the state-run Myanma Alinn newspaper on Friday, sets minimum funding and membership levels for parties participating in the polls. It also bans participation by parties or candidates deemed unlawful or linked to organizations declared by the junta to be terrorist groups.

This comes nearly two years after the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and arrested her and top members of her governing National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which had won a landslide victory for a second term in the country’s November 2020 general election.

The security forces suppressed widespread opposition to the takeover with lethal force, killing almost 2,900 civilians and arresting thousands more people who engaged in nonviolent protests. The crackdown triggered armed resistance in much of the Southeast Asian country. The junta deemed major organizations opposed to army rule to be “terrorist” groups, and communication with them was declared illegal.

The new law gives parties two months to reregister with the Union Election Commission and says those that do not will be “automatically invalidated” and considered dissolved.

Parties that compete nationwide will need to attain a membership of at least 100,000 within three months after being registered, which is 100 times higher than the minimum level set in the law used in the 2020 election. Parties also need to open offices in at least half of the country’s 330 townships within six months and must be able to contest in at least half of all constituencies.

Critics have already said the military-planned elections will be neither free nor fair because there is no free media and most of the NLD’s leaders have been arrested. Suu Kyi, 77, is serving prison sentences totaling 33 years after being convicted in a series of politically tainted prosecutions brought by the military.

The NLD declared last November it would not accept or recognize the planned elections, which it described as “fake.” It said the polls were an attempt by the military to gain political legitimacy and international recognition.

The party rejected the new law in a message sent to The Associated Press (AP) on Friday.

“As the Central Working Committee of the National League for Democracy, we do not accept and acknowledge it, because all the actions of the military council are illegal,” said Kyaw Htwe, a member of the committee.

“The coup by the military council also violated the existing laws and people are not supporting them at all,” he added.

Units of the People’s Defense Force, the armed wing of Myanmar’s banned main pro-democracy movement, have been attempting to disrupt preparations for the election by attacking personnel of the military government who are conducting a population survey that could be used to assemble voter rolls.

Since the survey began on January 9, at least 13 people have been killed and four government workers have been detained by the resistance, according to pro-military and independent media and statements issued by resistance groups.

The announcement of the new law came four days after Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who led the coup and is now the country’s leader, called during a Cabinet meeting for a new law that structures the political party system in a manner that reduces the number of parties. He said the election could be held once a state of emergency is declared after the army’s takeover is lifted, an action that is expected at the end of this month.

There are currently more than 90 political parties, but the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, which fared poorly in the 2020 election, appears to be the only one certain to be able to meet the new law’s requirements.