Discussion with Ba Gyi Hman

 

IN my Ywar Tha Yar village, Ba Gyi Hman has a wealth of knowledge. He weighs the words and thinks very carefully before he speaks. Although he is over 70, he is still active and alert. He can read well and is well versed in foreign and Myanmar affairs. 

We, youths go and ask him if we want to know about political affairs. We call him Ba Gyi Hman as he is a blunt person wearing thick glasses.

 He appreciates the youths and is a mentor for us as well. He always welcomes the visitors with the crispy mixed beans and yay nway gyan (plain hot water). Currently, the youths are concerned about the current political affairs of the country especially the responsibility grab of Tatmadaw according to the Constitution for election frauds in the 2020 election. We can see the poll heads denies the accuse of conducting voting fraud. So, we should ask how is the opinion of Ba Gyi Hman regarding this case. 

Maung Aye Chan: Ba Gyi Hman, the people criticize the electoral frauds after the 2020 election results are annulled. But the people who served as poll heads posted on social media that there was no election fraud at the polling stations. How do you think about that case? 

Ba Gyi Hman: If I say openly, not every poll head committed the voting frauds. Although there might be some poll heads, who are the supporters of NLD, who committed such cases, most of them served the duties honestly. So, we cannot say every poll head conducted electoral irregularities. The people also did not do such doings. The NLD government and previous UEC jointly committed electoral frauds. Now, they denied the cases manipulating the poll heads as stepping-stones. Most people think the vote-rigging is the repeated voting. But it means inflating the voter rolls and printing extra ballots and doesn’t mean repeat voting. So, there are an extra and shortage of ballots at a poll station. They could not cover up the case and Tatmadaw inspected the lists. 

MAC: The Chairmen and members of ward/village-tract election sub-commission jointly compiled the voter lists. If so, how did they commit voter fraud?

 BGM: NLD government substituted their supporters as Chairmen and members of ward/ village-tract sub-commissions in advance, didn’t they? Let’s look at the case of your village. Where is the unruly chairman who is favoured by the party? It is the basic preparation. The region/state chief ministers lead such cases. You know that they formed a group to check the voter lists, don’t you? In reality, they organized the group to manipulate the voter list collecting processes. The NLD supporters were satisfied as they were selected as chairmen of ward/village-tracts and members of townships/wards election sub-commissions. For example, Bago Region Chief Minister U Win Thein selected his niece San San Myat in the previous UEC.

 MAC: What is the difference between the inflation of voting lists and voter fraud? We, the citizen cast the vote just for one time.

 BGM: Most of the people look confused about this case. If they create the situation to inflate the voting lists, they can print extra ballots. The ballots must be printed depending on the number of voters. They made a trick to add more extra ballots using many ways or in advance voting processes, and printed the extra ballots. In some places, the NLD offices communicated and sent the ballots, especially for their party. When the basic level members could not serve well, the officials found the bags with party logo tags containing ballot receipts. The poll heads did not know about it. They saw just the voting lists of a polling station. They did not know what happened to their voting lists.

 MAC: I nearly see the plot. Please go on, Ba Gyi Hman.

 BGM: The heads of wards/ village-tracts cooperated with the township election sub-commissions and granted the recommendation letters. The poll heads didn’t know these cases too. The used ballots must conform with the numbers of ballot receipts. They granted more than 43 million ballots and used only more than 27 million, and so there might be more than 15 millions of extra ballots. There are more than 1.4 million used ballots that are now missing at the polling stations. They seemed to remove the ballots voted for other parties from the lists. There are more than 400,000 extra ballots without any lists. They added the extra ballots to get votes for NLD. For example, the voting results, which are more than the numbers of eligible voters, posted on Facebook by NLD MP Zeya Thaw, PPP’s Maung Kyaw Zaya didn’t get the votes of his family members and more than 30 people with the same address of one unoccupied house from his constituency cast the votes and seizures of nine new ballot books in Thegon. The NLD government wanted to commit electoral fraud and was even ridiculous. Therefore, they could not manage well to cover up their doings. 

MAC: It’s true. Such cases are spreading on Facebook. We know the NLD supporters and members interfere in election-related matters together with the heads of ward/village-tracts. They conducted advance voting processes with the party’s flag and seal. The elderly people who cast the advance vote have poor eyesight. They just how to use the voting stamp on the place of the NLD candidate. During the advance voting process of our village, most of the villagers thought that the NLD party collects the votes. 

BGM: Besides these cases, they issued the instructions to count the ballots without any UEC symbols and just with a tick as valid votes. It means all the votes for NLD become valid votes. But they gave reasons like the fake seal. They just create the situation that they want. They also gave instructions for the advance voters to vote again due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The people who are not at their constituencies can cast votes at their current places. But they changed the rule again. These people must cast vote at their townships. Some did not notice it. They tried the extra ballots to be legal ones rather than repeat voting. They also allowed the casting of advance votes without any solid documents. For example, granting the ballots without any fingerprints/signatures. They tried to be conformed with the numbers of ballots and extra ballots. But as there are plenty of ballots and they failed to do so. Then, they counted the votes of the 2015 election for NLD MP Naw Pwal Say of Gyobingauk Township. The numbers of Yesagyo Township MPs and Magway MPs are also incorrect. They tried to inflate the voting lists and seemed to issue the extra ballots accidentally. They appointed computer experts to compile the voter lists in each township of the country. I do not want to talk about foreign interference.

 MAC: If so, we, the citizens did not commit any voting frauds and the poll heads honestly served their duties. The NLD government and party are dishonest. The case occurred as they were eager to win the election. If they had the thought to accept the votes of people honestly, our country would not face the current situation. Tatmadaw requested to dissolve the issue peacefully many times.

 BGM: The story happened like this, Mg Aye Chan. The current political affairs that we face today are the consequences of the doings of the NLD party as they chose the wrong way to form a government just with one party without negotiating with any political parties. They misused the democracy and wishes of voters even they repeatedly highlighted the word —democracy. In conclusion, the honest poll heads and voters are not involved in the cases like the shortage/illegal extra ballots and the difference between the numbers of eligible voters and ballots. The authorities will investigate the cases and carry them out under the law.

 MAC: Thank you, Ba Gyi Hman. I now understand the whole case. We have to face all the situations. I think we need to make the right choice next time. I want our country to be peaceful as quickly as possible. 

(Translated) 

BY Maung Aye Chan 

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