SITTWE, MYANMAR - Despite the nationwide popularity of Myanmar’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, neither her National League for Democracy (NLD) nor the ruling military-backed Union Solidarity Development Party (USDP) are likely to win Sunday's polls in ethnically diverse Rakhine state, where deadly sectarian riots between Buddhists and Muslims occurred in 2012.
Fierce ethnic pride and a surge of political awareness among the Buddhist majority Rakhine people will likely help secure a victory for the Arakan National Party (ANP) over the two main national parties, voters and politicians predict.
Despite her international image as a democracy icon, Suu Kyi’s comments in recent years recognising the plight of the Muslim minority Rohingya have made the Rakhine suspicious of her support for their own struggle. Many say they have been ruthlessly exploited and suppressed for centuries by the Burmans.
“The Rakhine people will vote for the ANP, not the government, military-linked USDP or 'The Lady’s' party in all three ballots — the Upper House, Lower House and at regional level,” said voter Nyo Than.
According to the European Union-sponsored Myanmar Electoral Resource Information Network, 91 parties are running in Rakhine state for 6,074 seats in the three ballots.
The 47-year-old Rakhine education officer added that the USDP has been boasting about its success in running the country, but he said they have not done a good job in many areas.
The ANP was formed with the merger of the Arakan League of Democracy, which won in the state in 1990, and the Rakhine Nationality Development Party, which triumphed in the 2010 elections.
Another Rakhine, Foe Thiha, 31, said although many people admired the Nobel laureate, in recent years her sympathetic stance towards the Rohingya Muslims had caused the Rakhine people to distrust her party.
Khaing Kang Zan, 45, director of the Wan-Lark Foundation community youth development centre, said there was a high level of distrust between the Rakhine and other races, especially the Burmans.
“The Burmans haven’t honoured the pledge of equal rights for all races,” said the former member of the Arakan Liberation Army who spent six years fighting the Myanmar army along the Thai-Karen border during the 1990s.
Historically, there has been a deep-rooted pride by the Rakhine people in their ethnic and cultural heritage in what was a kingdom thousands of years old before it was conquered by a Burman king in 1748.
The region came under British colonial rule from 1826 before becoming part of independent Burma from 1948 onward.
Sporadic communal strife has plagued Rakhine since colonial times, between the majority Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim communities, some of whom came to the region under British rule.
In 2012, a series of clashes primarily between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims occurred, which officially saw 88 killed and 90,000 people displaced by the violence.
In August, Cyclone Komen devastated one-third of Myanmar, including Rakhine state, and killed more than 100 people. This led to visits by both Suu Kyi and President Thein Sein, also chairman of the USDP.
During this week’s visit, Thein Sein reminded locals that the government has over the past five years tried to implement reform measures without violence or bloodshed.
However, many Rakhine dismissed his presence, saying his true mission was actually to conduct a ritual in the ancient kingdom town of Sittwe to ensure that ethnic Burmans remain the paramount leaders of the country.
Kyawt Thar Sein, 62, a USDP candidate for the Lower House, said the Rakhine were very proud of their ethnic identity and while may they appear hostile to others, they did not actually hate other races.
A physician, she declined to predict if she would win in Sunday's election, but said: “I’ve been doing health community work for decades. The choice is up to the people, after all.”
For the ANP, its vice-chairwoman, Aye Nu Sein, said her party expected to win a landslide with 95% of the total seats.
“The ANP policy is simple but our conviction is strong — to assure and uphold the rights and the dignity of the Rakhine people and to make Rakhine an equal federal state,” said the career lawyer.
“It’s natural and logical that each ethnic group loves and supports their own political party. But whoever wins at the state and national level will be respected, hopefully. President Thein Sein has already pledged that, so even if the NLD wins, there should be no tension in the country,” the ANP vice chairwoman said.
