Rakhine leaders object to voting rights for Bengalis
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Ethnic Rakhine leaders have demanded that the election commission deny voting rights to immigrant Bengalis with temporary identity cards (white cards) in the upcoming 2015 general election.
Aye Thar Aung, chairman of the Arkan League for Democracy, said temporary cardholders should be denied citizenship and voting rights according to the 1982 Citizenship Law and the 2008 Constitution.
“A complaint letter will be submitted to the election commission based on the 1982 Citizenship Law to prevent these cardholders from voting in the 2015 election,” said Aye Thar Aung.
Aye Maung, chairman of the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party, said the temporary identity cards were not included in the 1982 Citizenship Law. “Where citizen rights have been given to outsiders, we need to review whether this harms ‘Perpetuation of Sovereignty’ [one of the three Main National Causes outlined by the military government after 1988].”
“If temporary card holders were allowed to vote and form political parties, this would breach the 2008 Constitution and harm the country’s sovereignty. We plan to submit a rational complaint [to the election commission],” said Aye Maung.
Zaw Aye Maung, minister of Rakhine race affairs for Yangon Region, said green-card holders in the United States are not allowed to vote so the authorities should review voting rights granted to white-card holders and amend the laws if necessary.
The previous military government issued these temporary identity cards to Bengalis in order to gain votes for the 2008 constitutional referendum. Over 500,000 Bengalis in Rakhine State now hold these cards and most of them live in Buthitaung and Maungdaw areas, according to reports.
After Rakhine State’s temporary identity card holders were allowed to vote in the 2010 election, many candidates from the Union Solidarity and Development Party won in areas where the cardholders reside. The Ministry of Immigration and Population investigating ethnic Rakhine’s complaints about the citizenship rights of Bengalis.
