Some 205 women have registered to run in the 2020 general election in Shan State, according to the Shan State Election Commission.

The figures put women at nearly 20 percent of candidates in the state.

“Currently, we are not announcing which political party has registered more female electoral candidates. We will announce it on August 29,” chairperson of the Shan State Election Commission Htin Kyaw told SHAN. “We are still checking the registration forms of the electoral candidates, so I don’t know who will be dismissed or not,” he said, explaining the reason for the wait.  

According to Htin Kyaw, 65 women are running for Lower House parliamentary seats and 20 for Upper House seats. Eight are running for ethnic affairs ministerial posts, and 112 are running for state parliament.

Thirty-two political parties are competing for seats in Shan State, along with 22 individual candidates running independently. The state’s election commission has said that 1,037 people in total are registered to run for posts on November 8.