Hundreds of electoral candidates have registered to contest the 2020 general election in Chin State, according to the Chin State Election Commission. Initially, 212 candidates were registered, but one withdrew its application, Lin Kyaw, secretary of the Chin State Election Commission, told Khonumthung News. With the deadline passed, no-one else can apply. There are 46 electoral candidates contesting seats in the House of Representatives (Lower House), 64 for the House of Nationalities (Upper House) and 96 for Chin State Parliament. Of the candidates, 17 ran independently. Four for the House of Representatives, three for the House of Nationalities and ten…
Author: Editor
A total of eleven electoral candidates are vying for Minister of Chin Ethnic Affairs of Sagaing Region during the 2020 general election. Ler Thang Cum told Khonumthung News he’s contesting the post as an independent candidate to be a voice for the people. “We need a link between the government and our Chin people, and I will fill that gap.” They’re apprehensive about speaking directly to government officials, he said, and “why they have lost their basic rights.” “We’re very close to our Chin people; we know what they really need.” Election candidates from seven parties and four independent candidates…
The continued blocking of transportation routes into the southern Chin State town of Paletwa has created ongoing food insecurity, locals say. Ferry routes and roads have been cut off between Paletwa and Kyauktaw in Rakhine State since February 6 due to fighting between the Burma Army and the Arakan Army, leading to a shortage of food in the area. Even though the World Food Program (WFP) and the Chin State government has sent rice other rations to Paletwa for internally displaced persons (IDPs), locals in the town say they are now the ones without enough food. “Bags of rice, which are…
Burma’s Ministry of Health and Sports (MoHS) announced two more cases of COVID-19 in Chin State this Friday (August 7). Both of the individuals infected with the coronavirus were studying at a Bible theology school in India before returning home. Chin State Health and Social Affairs Minister Pau Lum Ming Thang told Khonumthung News that Case 358 is from Kalay, Sagaing Region. Case 358 is from Tedim Township in Chin State. Both of them are in quarantine in their home regions. On August 5, MoHS confirmed Case 357, who is in quarantine in Tedim town. Currently, there are four COVID-19…
Salai Hkwi Yang, a spokesperson for the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), said his party plans to only contest 36 of Chin State’s 39 constituencies for the 2020 general election in order to make room for the ethnic parties to win the remaining constituencies. The USDP is not contesting Matupi and Falam townships and a seat for House of Nationalities for Hakha Township, he said. “I think their candidates should be elected for these constituencies. And that’s why we’re not fielding our candidates for these townships. During the 2018 by-election, we did not contest their candidates. So we’re maintaining…
An ethnic Chin girl died after stepping on a landmine in Rakhine State’s Ann Township on Monday, according to local sources. Wathong, age 17, was looking for bamboo shoots in the jungle near Kazukai village when the mine exploded. According to Mai Nang Wai, who works with the Relief and Rehabilitation Committee for Chin IDPs (RRCCI), Wathong lost her legs in the blast and died en route to the hospital. “She was a mentally disabled person. She was not killed on the spot. She died on the way to the hospital as local CSOs [civil society organizations] tried to send…
Speaker of the Chin State parliament Zo Bwi—who is also the National League for Democracy’s (NLD) party chair for the state—has announced that he won’t run in Burma’s general election on November 8. According to Zo Bwi, he had planned to run for election in Hakha Township for the state parliament, but the NLD selected him to run for a seat in the Union Parliament’s Lower House. He said that he decided against it in order to help his party focus on developing a winning campaign strategy in the state. “I proposed running for a seat in the state parliament,…
Locals in southern Chin State’s Paletwa Township say that they still are unable to get online, despite a news leak that internet service had been restored to the area after being blocked by the government for more than one year. The government has cut off mobile internet services to eight townships in Rakhine State, in addition to Paletwa Township in Chin State, since June 21, 2019, citing security concerns as the military engages in intensifying offensives against the Arakan Army. Locals believed internet access would be restored on August 1. “Currently, we cannot use the internet here,” Aik Tun Min,…
The Khumi Affairs Coordination Council (KACC) reported that the Arakan Army (AA) has been detaining four ethnic Chin youth in Rakhine State’s Kyauktaw Township since July 29. Mai Nang Wai, a KACC spokesperson, said that seven Chin youth were returning from Yangon to Paletwa Township in Chin State when they were stopped by the AA in Kyauktaw, and four were taken into AA custody. She added that one of those missing is Ai Aung Soe, who is working with a local civil society organization in Paletwa. “As far as I know, they returned to Paletwa through Pi Chaung, Ngathareng village,”…
Only one high school was allowed to resume classes in Chin State’s Paletwa Township when schools started up again across Burma in the third week of July as part of the country’s easing of a partial lockdown started in April. Salai Aung Min, the head of the Paletwa Township Education Department, said only a single high school was allowed to open because of the instability caused by the conflict between armed groups. In addition, personal protective equipment (PPE) required to comply with new health regulations set by the government’s Ministry of Health and Sports to prevent infections of the novel…