The Chairman of the Military Council, General Min Aung Hlaing, during his visit to Shan State last September 9, met with businessmen in 2024. He said that the election would be held at the earliest after the national census in October.
If you calculate this situation, the national census will be conducted and the population and household contents census will be published in 2025. After that, they will continue to compile the ballot for the election. Therefore, election observers and political analysts told RFA that it is not certain that the election will take place in the next year or so.
An election analyst, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, told RFA that the call for the census was an excuse and that he was taking time to find a political solution.
"We will really hold elections, It is a political issue. I see that the census is actually used as an excuse. When can we find a political outlet that is not directly related to the census? It is only a description of what is not available. After the census, It's not that the election was postponed because it wasn't finished, but actually that the election was postponed because there was no condition to hold the election."
Elections cannot be held with population data from the census. Therefore, he said, there will not be an election in more than a year.
"As long as our revolutionary forces are strong, the military council will not be able to hold fake elections easily."
Some of the political parties registered with the Military Council's Union Election Commission said the election could take place in 2025, while others told RFA that it is not yet possible to predict.
The General Secretary of the People's Pioneer Party, Dr. Geni Khin, considers that the election may take place in 2025.
"Based on General Min Aung Hlaing's statement, we calculated it. Of course, the election process must go back to mandatory. Elections cannot be done. So we believe that the election should be held in 2025. By that time, the ballots are ready to be quite accurate. Even if it is not national, it is acceptable internationally. Even if the local people are not 100 percent, I think we can elect the number of parliamentarians that can be accepted."
Shan and Ethnic Democratic Party Chairman Sai Ai Phum said that it is not yet possible to say exactly when the election will be held.
"On January 31, 2024, the two six-month extension has been completed. According to Article 427 of the Constitution, Kalon has returned to power. How the president (interim president) will do it depends on him. Is the current government (military council) responsible? It is up to him to appoint another new one. 2024 election is less likely. I hope it will happen in 2025.”
He also said that the election will solve the political crisis in Myanmar.
At the same time, the Union Election Commission of the Military Council continues to inform and clarify the Ministries of the Military Council for the electronic voting system (Myanmar Electronic Voting Machine (MEVM)) and the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation agreed on September 7 to cooperate in the election between the two countries.
The details of the agreement were not disclosed in the military council's newspapers, but election observers may have asked Russia for technical assistance for the electronic voting system, said an election observer who did not want to be named for security reasons.
“We are trying to implement electronic voting because Russia is also legislating electronic voting in its elections in 2020. Starting in 2021, it started to be used in the elections of Russian parliaments. So my view is that it is possible to ask for help with Russia's electronic voting system."
However, it is impossible for the Burmese military council, which is lagging behind in technological advancements, to obtain all of Russia's election technology, and only a part of it, he said.
U Tun Myint, secretary member of the Union Parliamentary Representative Committee (CRPH), which has protested against the military council election, told RFA that the military council will hold an election after the election results he wants.
"If the result he (Colonel General Min Aung Hlaing) wants at some point, I see that he is using political tactics as a way out to prolong the life of the military dictator by holding fake elections. I think that his (Colonel General Min Aung Hlaing) saying that there will be an election without a gap is incorrect."
He also said that the military council will not be able to create a situation where the election will be held as the internal resistance is gaining momentum.
At the same time, the democratic forces also called for a boycott of the military council election. People are still being urged not to vote.
Ko Min Lwin Oo, leader of the Dawei District Democracy Action Strike Committee, told RFA that as the Military Council prepares to hold a fake election, there will be a series of protests against not voting.
"Revolutionary forces are to completely remove the military dictators from politics. The fact that we need to remove it is very important for the fate of our country. The political system that the entire ethnic community is demanding. A federal democratic union that can guarantee national equality and the right to self-determination means that we can open that door only after the military leaves politics. As long as our revolutionary forces are strong, the military council will not be able to hold fake elections easily. I can only see that the more opposition there is, the more intense it will be.”
If the military council cannot hold an election, the 2008 constitution could be amended or abolished, and the military dictatorship could be prolonged, election observers said.
Indonesia : Jakarta became the number one most polluted city in the world on Saturday morning
Jakarta DKI Jakarta again took first place as the most polluted big city in the world on Saturday morning.
Based on data from the IQAir air quality monitoring site at 06.00 WIB, the air quality index (AQI) in Jakarta was at 164 or in the unhealthy category for a fine particulate matter (PM) figure of 2.5.
The latest air quality monitoring site also lists Jakarta as the city with the worst air quality in the world.
After Jakarta, the cities with the next worst air quality are Dubai (UAE) with an air quality index of 156 and Johannesburg (South Africa) with 153.
A number of areas in Jakarta with the worst air quality are Kemang, Jeruk Purut, Pantai Indah Kapuk, Kebon Jeruk, West Cilandak and Kuningan, South Jakarta.
The same thing is also recorded in the Environmental and Cleanliness Information System of the DKI Jakarta Provincial Environmental Service which states that the air quality in Jakarta is generally in the unhealthy category because the benchmark for fine particles of pollution in the air is PM2.5, an index number of 108. This figure has an explanation
The air quality level is unhealthy because it can be detrimental to humans or sensitive animal groups or can cause damage to plants or aesthetic values.
However, the air pollution standard index (ISPU) at the HI Roundabout is in the medium category with the number 82.
The moderate category means that air quality has no effect on human or animal health but does affect sensitive plants and aesthetic value with a PM2.5 range of 51-100.