YANGON, Myanmar – A supporter of Myanmar’s military-backed ruling party has been accused of stoking anti-Muslim fears in an effort to weaken the National League for Democracy (NLD) vote during campaigning for the country’s historic election.
The accusation is just one of several allegations of misuse of religion during the election season in the Mandalay region, which last year was blighted by rioting between Buddhists and Muslims that left two dead.
Although Suu Kyi’s NLD won by a landslide and secured almost 80 percent of parliamentary seats nationwide, party candidate Kyaw Soe lost in his constituency of Pyawbwe, central Myanmar.
He alleges that his opponent from the ruling USDP party won following a smear campaign to convince voters that an NLD victory would mean “bad things” for Buddhism, the country’s majority religion.
“We have strong evidence that they used religion while canvassing for votes. We haven’t challenged the result yet, but we will proceed with the lawsuit,” Kyaw Soe told the Myanmar Times Tuesday.
He added that a village administrator’s wife had distributed pamphlets containing the allegations.
Under Myanmar’s election law, she faces up to a year in prison or a fine of 100,000 Kyat ($77), or both, if convicted. (Courtesy of Fulton News)
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