A political billboard for the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy’s (SNLD) campaign was destroyed by vandals in Taunggyi Township, located in southern Shan State.

Sai Kham Thi, SNLD’s joint secretary for the township, told SHAN that the perpetrators who destroyed the billboard at 10 p.m. yesterday (September 22) were nabbed the same night.

He explained that there’s 11 villages in Than Tae-village-tract, where the crime took place, and the five vandals are from Kon Moung village. “They apologized to us in the morning for what they did…They said they didn’t have any intention to destroy our party’s billboard. They told us they were drunk last night and they made a mistake.”

But Sai Kham Thi doesn’t believe them.

“I think they deliberately did it. I assume someone ordered them to commit the crime.” 

The men threw stones at the billboard with a photo of one of five SNLD electoral candidates contesting Taunggyi Township in the 2020 general election.

SNLD reported the incident to the local Election Commission.

Sai Kham Thi said these kinds of things need to stop. “It makes a negative image for our township, as well as the village-tract.”

A National League for Democracy (NLD) sign depicting party leader Aung San Suu Kyi was slashed with a knife in Naypyitaw at the start of the month. Myanmar Now reported that before the sign was erected at the start of the campaign period, two locals argued it would cause a conflict with the military supported Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).

The Irrawaddy reported that at least a dozen NLD election posters were vandalized in seven locations across the country within days of the campaign period starting.

The other parties vying for Than Tae village-tract are USDP, NLD, People’s Party, Union Betterment Party, National Unity Party and Pa-O National Organization.