SNLD spokesman urges voters to support ‘local party’
Sai Leik, the spokesperson for the Shan
Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), today urged voters going to the
polls in by-elections on Saturday to support “their local party” in Shan State.
Speaking to Shan Herald on Thursday, the
final day for campaigning, Sai Leik said, “From now on, our representative
should be a citizen of Shan State and should be a person who is working on
behalf of our nationality.”
He added that people in Mong Hsu, Mong Nong and
Kehsi townships had lost their right to vote during the 2015 general election
when polls were cancelled due to security concerns.
“That’s why this time they must come out and
exercise their right to vote. We do not want our people to lose their rights,”
he said.
Nicknamed the Tiger Head Party, the
SNLD won a total of 40 seats in the 2015 election. For this by-election, it is
running candidates to contest all seats in Mong Hsu, Mong Nong, Kehsi and Kengtung
townships.
Its ethnic rival, the Shan
Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP), known as the White Tiger Party, will also
contest all vacant seats in those same areas.
Apart from the two Shan-based
parties, the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which holds
a majority of seats in the Shan State Assembly, has also
been rallying for its candidates in the final stages of the campaign in Shan
State, as have the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) and other ethnic
parties such as the Wa National Unity Party (WNUP).
By Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN)
Tags: News, Politics
