The Chin League for Democracy (CLD) and the National League for Democracy (NLD) each won representation in Saturday’s by-elections in Chin State.
NLD candidate U Nyunt Win secured a vacant Lower House seat in Kanpetlet Township, and the CLD’s Awng Liang won a state parliament seat in Matupi Township.
Candidates from the NLD, Chin National Democratic Party (CNDP), Chin Progressive Party (CPP), and the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) competed for the Lower House seat. In that race, U Nyunt Win earned 3,083 votes, while the USDP’s Maner Nai got 2,527 votes. The CNDP’s Ke Thang Lun received 2,445 votes and CPP candidate Maner Shin got 242 votes.
Only the NLD and CLD ran in Matupi Township.
“I would like to thank all Matupi people who voted for me,” MP-elect Awng Liang told Khonumthung News. “First, I’m going to meet local people. Second, I will monitor the municipal committee’s projects and construction in rural areas,” he said.
Awng Liang received 5,964 votes while the NLD’s candidate Awng Thang got 5,026 votes.
According to the Chin State Election Commission, there were more than 30,000 eligible voters in the townships’ by-elections—12,451 in Kanpetlet and 17,604 in Matupi. A total of 8,297 people voted in Kanpetlet, and 10,990 voted in Matupi, making the voter turnout nearly 67 percent and 62 percent, respectively.