The Union Election Commission met with political parties and held a demonstration and test voting ceremony regarding the Myanmar electronic voting machine at the Yangon Region Government Office yesterday morning.
At the ceremony, UEC Chairman U Thein Soe said that according to the four meetings with the political parties, the Union Election Commission has agreed to change and use the closed list proportional representation system (PR) in the future parliamentary elections, which is suitable and simple for Myanmar.
He stressed that preparations are made to issue relevant parliamentary election laws and regulations that will be consistent with the proportional representation system.
In order to become strong organizations, the new registration rules for political parties have been enacted and published. There are 50 parties that applied for re-registration as a political party and 14 parties that applied for the establishment as new parties in accordance with the promulgated regulations, so there are a total of 64 parties. According to Section 25 of the Political Parties Registration Law, 40 political parties that did not apply for re-registration in accordance with the law have automatically become invalid as political parties, he highlighted.
He pointed out that 64 political parties submitted for re-registration and newly established registration are allowed to be registered in accordance with the law, and those who want to establish a new political party can apply under Section 3 of the Political Parties Registration Law.
He stressed that since the UEC will allow the representatives of political parties to participate in the compilation and verification of the voter lists, all should cooperate to ensure that the voter lists are complete and correct.
The use of electronic voting machines was carried out in order to reduce the cost of printing ballots. By using the Myanmar electronic voting machine, voters will be able to vote more clearly and easily, and the results of the vote will be counted accurately and quickly.
Thanks to the voting machine, voter fraud cannot occur and benefits such as reducing the cost of printing ballots and buying polling equipment will be achieved. Political parties are important organizations that represent the people and take the lead for the benefit of the nation.
The membership strength of the political parties that will lead the country must be firm in accordance with the requirements. In the elections to be held with the proportional representation system, the political parties will receive proportional representatives depending on their ability to organize and the votes they will receive. Ethnic parties will be able to participate in the legislative and administrative sectors according to their regions for the benefit of their ethnic groups.
In accordance with the constitution, he emphasized that in implementing a true and disciplined multi-party democratic system, he would like to make efforts to make political parties that can take a firm stand for the people and the State, the UEC chairman stated.
After that, U Nyi Nyi Lwin, Deputy Director General of the UEC Office, presented a detailed discussion with PowerPoint regarding the Myanmar Electronic Voting Machine (MEVM), and the representatives of the political parties cast a practical vote using the voting machine. — MNA/KZL
