Arakan News Agency
Due to amendments to the Political Parties Registration Law passed in September 2014, parties can no longer accept holders of associate or temporary IDs – better known as white cards – as members.
The Union Election Commission gave all parties until January 9 to submit revised member lists, but as The Myanmar Times reported at the time about 10 of 71 registered parties complied by the deadline. Those found to have ineligible members among their ranks face potential deregistration.
NLD spokesperson U Nyan Win said the party had complied with the order by March 9, as it was granted a two-month extension to examine the eligibility of its approximately 3 million members.
He said about 8000 members from 10 states and regions were “halted from being party members”, rejecting reports that put the number at 20,000.
“We don’t want to use the word ‘expel’ but action has been taken according to the rules concerning party members who hold white cards. They need to be removed as members. But even if they are excluded from the party, we are still partners,” he said.
Another NLD official, U Tun Tun Hein, said the party is helping their former members apply for Citizenship Scrutiny Cards so they can rejoin.
“For now the NLD will maintain these people as ‘reserve members’. They will help the NLD in some party tasks but they are not members. They are just partners,” he said.
In some areas expelled members have already rejoined. As The Myanmar Times reported earlier this month, the NLD office in Mawlamyine assisted 33 former members get ID cards confirming their status through an immigration department fast-track program.
Like the NLD, other parties have been scrambling to comply with the UEC directive. A spokesperson for the Union Solidarity and Development Party said this week that it had sent updated member lists to the UEC, but declined to have how many members it had expelled.
U Myint Wai, leader of the National Unity Congress Party, said his party had been forced to expel more than 200 members who did not hold the required level of citizenship.
“We have ejected them. Most of them are from Ayeyarwady Region,” he said.
The party’s membership is mostly Muslim. The change in the law has predominantly affected Muslims, particularly those in Rakhine State who self-identify as Rohingya.
While U Myint Wai said his party had no offices or members in Rakhine, other parties with Rohingya members have had to make substantial changes to their member lists.
“We have expelled more than 1000 members last month. They do not have a national registration card, but they are white-card holders,” said U Kyaw Min, chair of the Democracy and Human Rights Party, one of the three parties whose membership is predominantly Rohingya.
One of the expelled Democracy and Human Rights Party members, U Kyaw Thein, said he was forced to quit three months ago.
“We feel very sad about it. I don’t know what to say. I don’t know why they don’t want us to be members of political parties. I think it is unfair to exclude white-card holders from parties,” he said.
Source : Myanmar Times
