As
Myanmar
Bans Voting in
Parts of
Kachin, UN's
Ban Ki-moon
Withholds
Report?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
March 31 -- As
voting begins
in Myanmar, or
parts of
Myanmar, the
junta has
banned polling
in at least
three
constituencies
in Kachin
State,
ostensibly
because
fighting with
rebels makes
it unsafe. But
one of the
three, and
most of
another,
have seen no
fighting.
Rather it
seems that no
polling is
taking
place because
the government
would lose.
According
to Inner
City Press
sources, one
of the
constituencies,
Mogaung, has
had no
known fighting
so its unclear
why voting has
been canceled
there --
except for the
fact that the
the candidate
running there
Dr. Tu Ja
was a former
vice chairman
of the KIO and
would almost
certainly have
won.
Another
constituency
Hpakant has
had some
fighting but
very little
over the
past few
months so
again its
unclear if
security is
the real
reason
voting can't
take place.
The popular
candidate is
Bauk Ja (also
Bawk
Ja or Bauk
Gyar) is from
the NLD
splinter group
the NDF and
almost
certainly
would win in a
fair fight.
On
Monday March
26,
Inner City
Press asked
Ban Ki-moon's
deputy
spokesman
Eduardo Del
Buey:
Inner
City
Press: it’s
been announced
by the
Government of
Myanmar that
at least three
constituencies
in Kachin
state will not
vote in this
upcoming
election that
the UN is, you
know, and many
have praised
them for
holding, but
so certain
parts of the
country will
not be
allowed to
vote. Is there
any comment on
that and can
you say
anything more
about the
Secretary-General’s
public
statement that
he may go to
Myanmar next
month? What
are the
considerations
just as
other
scheduling or
is it in some
way
contingent?
Deputy
Spokesperson:
Well, as you
know, we
usually issue
statements to
the
media on the
Secretary-General’s
travel closer
to the travel.
We
don’t have any
dates selected
yet. We’ll see
what happens
with
the travel
plans and
we’ll make an
announcement
when we have
something to
announce.
Inner
City
Press: Does he
think it would
be good if
everybody in
Myanmar
can vote in
this upcoming
election, and
what does he
think of this
suspension of
voting rights
in parts of
Kachin state?
Deputy
Spokesperson:
Well, I think
it all depends
on the nature
of the
suspension. If
the suspension
is for
security
reasons,
obviously, if
you can’t hold
elections
because of
security
reasons, you
may have
to wait until
the security
situation is
such that
election
authorities
can go into
the region,
can distribute
the ballots,
can
set up the
voting
stations, can
enumerate the
voters,
etcetera,
etcetera. So,
I don’t have
any specific
comment on it,
but that
would be my
general
reaction.
Then
on the eve of
the election
on March 30
Inner City
Press asked
again:
Inner
City
Press: There
are some parts
of Kachin that
are not being,
that
have been said
by the
Government
that they
cannot vote.
And I have
looked into it
a little bit,
it seems like
people there
are saying
that, there is
one called
Mogaung, where
they said that
there has
been no
fighting at
all, it’s just
that an
opposition
candidate
would probably
win. Same
thing in a
place called
Hpakant. So, I
just wonder,
was your
statement just
general, you
just assumed
that
the
Government, if
they said
there was
fighting and
you couldn’t
vote, that
that’s how it
was, or does
the UN have
any… I know
that there was
some observers
going there,
are they going
to go up to
Kachin, and
what do you
say to the
allegation
that, that
people are
not being
allowed to
vote simply
because the
opposition
would win in
these
constituencies?
Deputy
Spokesperson:
Well, we have
a delegation,
which is not
an observer
mission, but
we have a
delegation
that was
scheduled to
arrive in
Myanmar
yesterday.
They will, in
response to
the
Government’s
invitation, it
was decided
that the
delegation
would
represent the
UN
Headquarters
from New York.
The delegation
will follow
the election
and report
back to the
Secretary-General.
Inner
City
Press: Will
they also
follow on this
issue of
places that
are
not being
allowed to
vote? That’s
my question.
Deputy
Spokesperson:
I am sure they
will be
looking at the
whole election
scenario and
reporting back
to the
Secretary-General.
Inner
City
Press: In
some, is there
going to be
any kind of
public
statement
about it?
Deputy
Spokesperson:
That’s up to
the
Secretary-General.
I don’t know
yet.
Watch
this site.
, 
