Seven candidates to run for Rakhine Ethnic Affairs Minister of Yangon Region

By Admin 22 Oct 2025

DMG Newsroom

22 October 2025, Yangon
 
There are reportedly seven candidates running for the position of Rakhine Ethnic Affairs Minister of Yangon Region in the election to be held on December 28.
 
The seven candidates include representatives from parties other than the Arakan political party and independent candidates.
 
The candidates are U Nay Min Tun from the junta-proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP); U Tha Sein from the People’s Party headed by U Ko Ko Gyi; Daw Aye Mar Lwin aka Daw Khin Aye Myint from the People’s Pioneer Party led by Daw Thet Thet Khaing; U Tin Maung from the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party; Daw Khin Hnin Si Aung from the Peace and Diversity Party; and U Nyi Nyi and U Tin Htoo Aung from the Arakan National Network will contest the election as independent candidates.
 
Regarding his candidacy for the position of Rakhine Ethnic Affairs Minister of Yangon Region, independent candidate U Tin Htoo Aung said that he will prioritise the issue of Arakanese workers in Yangon.
 
“Every day, we are solving the daily social problems of millions of Arakanese people outside Arakan State. All these problems cannot be avoided by our own efforts. Moreover, all these problems have been solved using the influence and influence of friendship since the 2020 election. This is my current reality and undeniable truth,” U Tin Htoo Aung wrote on his social media.
 
U Tin Htoo Aung also contested the 2020 election for the post of Minister of Rakhine Ethnic Affairs, but lost.
 
He is the founder of the Arakan National Network in Yangon, and has also focused on addressing the issues of Arakanese workers abroad.
 
The Rakhine Nationalities Party (RNP) led by U Ba Shein and the Arakan Front party (AFP) led by Dr. Aye Maung, which claim to represent the Arakanese people, will not contest the December election for the position of Minister of Rakhine Ethnic Affairs in Yangon Region.
 
However, Arakanese people in Yangon say they have little interest in the junta-organised election and are struggling to make ends meet.
 
An Arakanese man in Yangon said, “No matter how much the regime promotes the election, we are not interested in the junta-sponsored election because we do not expect it to be fair and free from fraud. I do not think that anyone from Arakan State or any other ethnic group will be able to breathe under the military for the Arakanese people, regardless of who is running for the position of Minister of Rakhine Ethnic Affairs.”
 
The military regime has announced that the first phase of the election will be held on December 28, but revolutionary forces are protesting against the election.
 
People also say they are less interested in the election as they struggle to survive amid the upheaval following the coup.
 
U Tha Sein, who will be running for the People’s Party, said he is running because he wants to improve the lives of the Arakanese young people in Yangon and is someone who follows “the way of Rakkhita”.
 
“I have two goals in running for the election. One is that I am a person who follows the ‘Rakkhita Way’ of preserving my ethnicity and religion. And I also have two goals: I want to lead the development of the Arakanese ethnic group and the youth who have come to Yangon in various ways,” U Tha Sein said in an interview with Popular News Journal.
 
Civil society organisations estimate that there are hundreds of thousands of Arakanese internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have fled the military conflict in Yangon, as well as those who have already been living there.
 
However, Arakan State residents in Yangon say that under the current situation, no one is even checking the voter lists.
 
An Arakanese woman in Yangon said, “Due to the current situation in the country, everyone is struggling, and no one will be able to take action in the fake election they are holding. Even if they take action like this, this election will not be an election that benefits the people.”
 
In previous years, the so-called Minister of Ethnic Affairs has pointed out that, apart from holding festive events, they have not been able to effectively address the issues of Arakanese labour and youth.
 
The military regime is currently conducting more air, artillery, drone, and military attacks on areas controlled by revolutionary forces as the election approaches.
 
People are criticising the upcoming elections, which are being held by a military regime that has been committing such acts of violence, as inherently unfair.