Overseas polls begin for November elections in Myanmar, embassy in Singapore is first of 45 missions to vote

SINGAPORE: A queue of voters formed outside the Myanmar embassy in Singapore on Thursday (October 1) morning, marking the start of overseas voting for the November 8 general elections.

While there is no official data, an estimated 200,000 Myanmar citizens live in Singapore, according to the embassy.

First Secretary Yan Naing Khant said 34,000 citizens had registered to vote in Singapore, but Myanmar’s Union Election Commission (UEC), the country’s official electoral body, found that only 32,000 were eligible.

The embassy has allocated 18 days for its citizens to cast their vote at its premises on St Martin’s Drive, near Tanglin Mall, in Singapore’s business district.

COVID-19 GUIDELINES

Voters have also been assigned slots during this period so that they can comply with the COVID-19 guidelines in Singapore.

“We have issued a notice to voters to follow the rules of public order law and the laws in force in Singapore; not to participate in political campaigns in public, adhere to public law and not wear party logos or shirts, ”said Yan Naing Khant.

He added that the embassy has tightened security during the 18 days of voting. The measures include hiring additional staff to guard the polls.

VOTING ABROAD

A total of 45 Myanmar embassies, missions and consulates around the world are preparing for voting abroad starting this week.

These include South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, the Philippines, and China.

According to Myanmar’s state media, the UEC has sent 101,526 voting ballots abroad.

This is roughly three times the number compared to the 2015 elections, when the UEC received 35,000 applications to vote abroad.

The figure is a far cry from the 4 million Myanmar citizens living abroad. But votes abroad have played an important role in previous polls.

LOOK: Myanmar prepares for elections while Yangon is partially blocked

Moe Thuzar, a member of the Singapore-based ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, wrote in a comment titled Myanmar’s Foreign Policy in Election Year, that “the votes of Myanmar citizens abroad helped decide the elections in favor of the NLD (current ruling party, National League for Democracy) in 1990 and 2015. “

In recent months, Myanmar authorities have reached out to Myanmar nationals abroad who have lost their jobs to take them back on relief flights, even as the country closed its borders with a ban on international commercial flights.

So far, around 17,000 Myanmar citizens around the world have returned home on these aid flights.

This is in addition to the 80,000 citizens returning daily from Thailand across a land border since May 1.

Former Myanmar Information Minister Ye Htut, who served under then-President Thein Sein, told CNA that the decision to involve foreign nationals was the right one.

“[Under] the previous military government paid very little attention to Myanmar people working abroad, ”said Ye Htut.

“Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi changed the situation and clearly said that all people, whether they are legal or illegal workers abroad, are our brother and sister. So we have to take care of them. I think it is a very wise decision. And this will build trust between the people and the government, ”he said.

BATTLE COVID-19

Meanwhile, electoral activities are taking a backseat in Myanmar as the country turns its attention to fighting a second and more serious wave of COVID-19 that emerged in mid-August.

The country’s commercial city, Yangon, is under partial blockade, which means that physical demonstrations and campaigns are prohibited.

The UEC has indicated on several occasions that the election would not be postponed. She said additional precautions will be taken, such as establishing more polling stations and dividing voters into turns.