Myanmar Elections: Reschedule cancelled polls

Myanmar should immediately schedule by-elections in areas where the Union Election Commission (UEC) cancelled the November 8 polls, Fortify Rights said yesterday.

It also said the right to vote must be ensured for all eligible persons, including Rohingyas and others who are disenfranchised under discriminatory laws.

"Free and fair elections must be held at the earliest opportunity in all areas where they were suspended," said Ismail Wolff, regional director of Fortify Rights.

On October 16, the UEC announced the cancellation of by-polls in parts of 15 townships in Bago Region, Kachin, Kayin [Karen], Mon, Shan, and Rakhine states, saying the areas were "unsafe".

It added that elections will be held in those areas when the situation is stable enough.

However, the commission has yet to commit to a timeframe for the by-elections or explain what conditions would constitute as "stable enough."

Myanmar's ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), claimed a landslide victory in the November 8 elections, but the authorities denied almost all age-appropriate Rohingyas the right to vote through the arbitrary and discriminatory application of Myanmar's citizenship law.

Global election monitor the Carter Center said the UEC rejected or de-registered 17 candidate nominations on the grounds of the applicants' "parents not holding Myanmar citizenship at the time of their birth".

Fortify Rights similarly documented the arbitrary rejection of Rohingya candidates based on false conclusions regarding the citizenship status of their parents.

Rohingyas participated in the 2010 national election in Myanmar, and three served in parliament as recently as 2015.

That very year, the government excluded Rohingyas from voting, running for office, or maintaining any Rohingya-led political party.

Myanmar's continued denial of the Rohingyas' right to vote or to participate in elections is part of its wider persecution of the indigenous ethnic group, including its ongoing denial of their existence, the rights body said.

Myanmar has long denied Rohingya access to citizenship, most recently through National Verification Cards, which effectively identifies members of the community as foreigners.

Fortify Rights further said the government should amend the 1982 Citizenship Law, which denies citizenship right of Rohingyas, to bring it in line with international laws and standards, and ensure equal access to full citizenship rights, regardless of ethnic identity, race, or religion. 

The right to vote is enshrined in international law and standards, including in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), but Myanmar is not a state party to the ICCPR.

As part of its "transition" to democracy, increased pressure should be placed on the country to ratify relevant international treaties and uphold its responsibility to promote and protect human rights, it said.

"The international community financed this election and has a role to play in rectifying its wrongs," said Ismail Wolff.