Statement on Myanmar Pre Election

Statement  on Pre-Election Environment

Pre-Election Activities in Myanmar are Undemocratic and Quite Far from Meeting International Standards

6th November, 2010

Experts from the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) have expressed their strong disappointment in the Myanmar November 7th, 2010 Election which is being held through the use of force, fear and intimidation. People all over the country, including the media, have completely lost their freedom of expression and freedom of choice.Neither the poll preparation nor the election environment has reached the international standards that are basic principles of democracy.

The SPDC, USDA, UEC and USDP should take responsibility for the failures of the pre-election period, failures which undermine the credibility and transparency of both the Polling Day and its electoral outcomes.UEC committees at all levels have failed to provide correct and comprehensive information to all stakeholders, especially voters.The examples of specific election commission negligence are many.For example, the UEC has taken no action against the Ward/Township Officials who campaign and show favor towards one specific party, threaten other parties, and convince the voters to take part in advance voting before it’s scheduled.No secrecy has been provided for advance voting on the 4th and 5th of November and no one is aware of the procedures planned for the counting process.

Excessive government and military control of all cities and villages, both ongoing and in the past, has created a poor election environment because citizens do not trust the government’s promotion of a supposedly democratic election.Many of Myanmar’s people are sad and without hope when they consider the multiparty election and its many irregularities and reports of cheating.As a result of this, many people have chosen not to vote.They would prefer to not use their franchise as a form of boycott against the election conditions.

ANFREL calls for an end to the rampant intimidation of voters and calls for the neutrality of election officials and law enforcement.These officials must stop citizens from engaging in proxy voting, multiple voting, and phantom voting.All party agents and candidates who are inside polling stations must respect the rules and have no influence on voters’ choices.All ward officials who have called voters to vote in ways that violate advance voting regulations must be seriously punished and a record should be made of their violations.

Attention to the Counting Process

Since there is no clear information regarding the counting process, the experts have expressed their strong concern about the counting process after the poll closing at 4 pm.All counting officials must monitor each others’ activities for transparency and to eliminate ballot manipulation.The reconciliation of the number of received ballot papers with the number of valid/invalid/spoiled/unused ballot papers must be done openly.The counting of ballot papers from the advance voting period should be done with stakeholders present to observe.The UEC must inform the public of the number of ballot papers that they have from formal advance voting.Ballot papers from illegal advanced voting must NOT be counted.They must reconcile the number of all ballot papers to match the number of voters in the voter list.They must inform the public of how they plan to ensure that those who voted on advance voting days do not come to vote again on 7th November, 2010 and how they will safeguard against those who have more than one ID card being able to vote more than once.Without assurances of proper procedures such as these, the legitimacy of the poll in the public’s eyes will suffer even more.

Manipulation of Results

All 3 classes of ballots (Pyidaungsu Hluttaw and State/ Region Hluttaw) should be counted openly and should not be counted in darkness or behind closed doors.The UEC must prepare enough facilities ahead of time for this kind of transparent counting process.No results should be changed while being delivered from polling stations to the ward/township/regional level or from the state to national levels.If there is strong evidence of cheating, manipulation, and/or fraud, the UEC should begin an immediate investigation and call for new replacement polls in areas where fraud tainted the first set of results.

Meanwhile those diplomats, media and International Organizations based in Rangoon who are allowed to observe the elections should have the freedom to choose and enter any polling station they wish without official escorts and should be free to question poll officials and the UEC.While November 7th is the day that polls will be held, it is not the only significant day for the election. Many major problems have and will occur outside of the election’s scheduled day, both before and after it.

The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) was established in 1997 as Asia’s first regional network of civil society organizations to promote and support democratization and human rights at national and regional levels in Asia. ANFREL has served towards strengthening the democratization of countries such as Sri Lanka, Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, East Timor, Philippines, Afghanistan, Taiwan and Indonesia.  ANFREL has not sent observers to observe Myanmar’s November 7th 2010 Election.

Pipit Apriani is an International Election Observer who joined some election observation missions conducted by ANFREL in some countries. There, she represents KIPP (Komite Independen Pemantau Pemilu) Indonesia that one of the founders of ANFREL.