Elections to be held in Kokang

Elections to be held in Kokang
Aerial view of Myanmar-China border town Laukkai in Kokang, Myanmar, on 08 September 2009. Photo: EPA

The Union Election Commission (UEC) announced Wednesday at a press conference in Yangon that more than 32 million citizens of the country’s population of roughly 54 million would be eligible to vote in the November elections RFA reported on 22 July.
It was also reported that elections would be held in the Kokang region in the northern part of Shan state, where ethnic Kokang troops had clashed with army soldiers earlier this year, although it was not sure if polls would be open in six townships of the Wa special region in northern Shan state.
The UEC said previously that the election would not be held in areas such as northern Shan state and parts of Kachin state, where ethnic armies were engaged in hostilities with government troops.
United Wa State Army (USWA) spokesman Aung Myint told RFA’s Myanmar Service earlier this week that about 600,000 people living in northern Shan state under his group’s control were not likely to vote because immigration officials were unwilling to go to the area to provide them with election identification.