The Naga National Party (NNP) has laid out its platform to win parliamentary representation in 15 constituencies, including in Kachin State, in Burma’s general election scheduled for November 8.
Shu Maung, chair of the NNP, said that the party would focus on development, Constitutional change and fulfilling the promises of the 1947 Panglong Agreement.
“There will be two parts: first, there is the issue of regional development. Second, as an ethnic political party, we will participate in re-drafting the Constitution to build a federal Union,” he told KNG, adding, “We will work together with other ethnic political parties.”
Shu Maung criticized Burma’s 2008 Constitution for guaranteeing parliamentary representation to the Tatmadaw.
“In my opinion, the Burma Army should not automatically take 25 percent of seats in Parliament. The Burma Army has said that they would leave Parliament if peace were restored in the country,” the NNP chair explained. “This means that they know they should not take seats in Parliament.”
The NNP is also running in the Naga Self-Administered Region in Sagaing Region under the slogan, “let’s rebuild our country.”
Shu Maung described the party’s 20,000 members as mostly ethnic Naga people who have been left out of political movements in central Burma due to a lack of internet access and transportation to the remote areas where they live.
The party was officially registered with the Union Election Commission in 2019. This will be their first election.