Proportional voting possible in 2015: UEC

Proportional voting possible in 2015: UEC

By Hsu Hlaing Htun   |   Friday, 04 July 2014

The head of the Union Election Commission says parliament still has time to switch to proportional representation for the 2015 election, despite earlier setting an end-of-2013 deadline to make the change.

Eligible voters cast ballots for the lower house of parliament in Taunggyi on November 7, 2010. The first-past-the-post voting system was used for the 2010 general election and April 2012 by-elections. Photo: AFP

Chair U Tin Aye also promised political parties that next year's election will be "free and fair" and said the commission would allow international monitors into the country for the polls.

He invited political parties, civil society, international election monitors and the media to work with the commission to ensure a fair vote.

Asked about proportional representation, the former general said it was too late to introduce it for this year's by-elections but that it was up to parliament whether to introduce it for 2015.

"If the hluttaw chooses to practise the proportional representation system, we will make it happen. Our duty is to implement the hluttaw's decision," he said at the July 2 meeting.

But some party leaders who attended the meeting disagreed with U Tin Aye's assessment.

"The UEC is responsible for deciding which electoral system is appropriate and for ensuring elections are free and fair. The commission should know which system is best for the people," said U Aye Maung, an Amyotha Hluttaw representative from the Rakhine National Party.

"The majority of people in our country are uneducated so the commission should be aware that the most suitable system to ensure free and fair elections is one that is easily understandable," he said.

At the meeting, U Tin Aye, who was appointed by President U Thein Sein to chair the UEC in early 2011, invited feedback on the commission's actions.

"If the commission does something wrong, political parties, civil society organisations or media should definitely point it out so that the commission doesn't do it again," he said.

However, many have already criticised the commission. Local parties voiced outrage in April when U Tin Aye told a meeting in Pathein that the commission planned to introduce restrictions on campaigning that would require candidates to request permission for all campaigning events.

After the commission wrote to the National League for Democracy in May to warn that comments made by leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi may be unconstitutional, Human Rights Watch issued a statement urging it to "immediately stop intimidating opposition parties and threatening free expression in Burma".

HRW also criticised U Tin Aye personally, saying that "the former army general … has made numerous remarks in recent months that demonstrate a pro-military bias".

However U Aye Maung said he had confidence in U Tin Aye's pledges of impartiality. "If he [does his job well], he will be given credit by future generations. So I believe he will make sure the elections are free and fair."

Translation by Myat Su Mon Win

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2014/07/07/proportional-voting-possible-in-2015-uec/