The SNLD has asked the UEC to look into the process by which the Shan affairs minister for the region was elected.

The Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) has demanded that the Union Election Commission (UEC) re-examine the process by which the minister for Shan affairs was elected in Mandalay last year.

The UEC will look into the issue on January 22, in what will be the third time the position has been scrutinized. The National League for Democracy’s (NLD) Sai Pang Seng won the seat in the November 2018 by-elections, winning out over candidates from the SNLD, the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party, and the Union Solidarity and Development Party.

The SNLD’s candidate for the seat, Nang Htwe Mone, told SHAN that the party questions if the NLD broke electoral rules by campaigning outside of the designated time frame, and by placing their party’s logo near the ballot office. She also alleged that people wearing the NLD’s logo were present at the ballot office on the November 3 election day. The winning candidate also “reported incorrect financial expenditures for the election campaign,” she alleged.

“That’s why we demand the UEC scrutinize those things again,” Nang Htwe Mone explained.