Interview: ANP candidate Htoo May Skip to main content

Interview: ANP candidate Htoo May

Htoo May, the Arakan National Party candidate contesting the upper house seat in constituency number 11, Ann and Ramee townships, spoke to DVB about her campaign plans and priorities for her community.

Question: Who do you see as your main contender in the elections? How have you prepared for the win?
Answer: I can say my main contender in the elections will be the USDP [Union Solidarity and Development Party] candidate Dr Ba Swe, as the USDP is financially strong. As for preparation, I plan on going to campaign rallies to explain my party’s policies to the public and how our policies can serve their interests.
Q: Have you started campaigning?
A: I am in Rangoon to collect the vinyl banners and will be heading down to my constituency afterwards. Our party has already launched our campaign there.
Q: You are running election for an upper house seat in Ann and Ramee townships. What will you do for the local population if you win?
A: The main policies of the ANP in the election are to achieve self-determination for ethnic nationalities, federalism and democracy, and ethnic equality. As I have a background in the education sector, I plan to prioritise youth eduction, and also creating job opportunities for them to narrow the gap with mainland Burma regions.
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about your background?
A: Born on 26 June 1979, I studied at the high school in Zayatpyin until ninth grade and passed the 10th grade (matriculation) from Rangoon. I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. I worked as a volunteer English teacher at the Scholar Institute between 2008 and 2014. From November 2014 to June 2015, I worked as a coordinator for the Shwe Gas Movement. I was also involved in Women Leadership training programmes by the RFF foundation [Resources for the Future] in Arakan State and Irrawaddy and Rangoon divisions.
Q: Which sectors do you think should be prioritised for development in your constituency?
A: Electricity and transportation are important for any country’s development. The roads in my constituency are not only bad but also unsafe to use. Also lack of job opportunities and access to education are fundamental signs of poverty. In order to build infrastructure in the area, the government should first tackle the major issues with transportation and electricity and if they can work these out, health and education sectors can also improve.
Q: What do you plan to do if you win the elections?
A: To fulfil the basic needs of my constituency ‑ but it is easier to make a promise than to deliver it, as it can be difficult under the 2008 constitution that allows [the Tatmadaw] 25 percent of seats in the [bicameral] parliament without having to run for election.
As youth have an important role in the country’s reforms, I would like to focus on their education. At the same time, I will work on bringing electricity access and help the local population to start up home businesses focusing on agriculture and livestock breeding. I would join the fight for democracy with ethnic nationalities in the parliament to ensure the budget provided by the central government is used effectively to fulfil the basic needs of my region.
Q: Can you tell us about your political ambition?
A: I wish to bring about a change in our country for the sake of young people’s lives. I accept the notion that young people are the future of the country. Through our lifetime, we have seen young people living in hardship and poverty. My political ambition is to promote independent thinking among the youth and provide them freedom of education. Also I would work with various other ethnic nationalities in our country to bring about federalism and democracy, which we all want.
Moreover, I aim to work together with ethnic MPs in the parliament for self-determination in ethnic regions, looking towards a peaceful Burma and bringing about the end of the civil war that has been raging since the independence.
http://www.dvb.no/interview/interview-anp-candidate-htoo-may-burma-myanmar/57264
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chronology of the Press in Burma

1836 – 1846 * During this period the first English-language newspaper was launched under British-ruled Tenasserim, southern  Burma . The first ethnic Karen-language and Burmese-language newspapers also appear in this period.     March 3, 1836 —The first English-language newspaper,  The Maulmain Chronicle , appears in the city of Moulmein in British-ruled Tenasserim. The paper, first published by a British official named E.A. Blundell, continued up until the 1950s. September 1842 —Tavoy’s  Hsa-tu-gaw  (the  Morning Star ), a monthly publication in the Karen-language of  Sgaw ,  is established by the Baptist mission. It is the first ethnic language newspaper. Circulation reached about three hundred until its publication ceased in 1849. January 1843 —The Baptist mission publishes a monthly newspaper, the Christian  Dhamma  Thadinsa  (the  Religious Herald ), in Moulmein. Supposedly the first Burmese-language newspaper, it continued up until the first year of the second Angl
Post a Comment
Read more

ARSA claims ambush on Myanmar security forces

Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on Sunday claimed responsibility for an ambush on Myanmar security forces that left several wounded in northern Rakhine state, the first attack in weeks in a region gutted by violence. Rakhine was plunged into turmoil last August, when a series of ARSA raids prompted a military backlash so brutal the UN says it likely amounts to ethnic cleansing of the Muslim Rohingya minority. The army campaign sent some 650,000 Rohingya fleeing for Bangladesh, where refugees have given harrowing accounts of rape, murder and arson at the hands of security forces and vigilantes. Myanmar's military, which tightly controls information about Rakhine, denies any abuses and insists the crackdown was a proportionate response to crush the "terrorist" threat. ARSA have launched few attacks in recent months.  But the army reported that "about ten" Rohingya terrorists ambushed a car with hand-made mines and gunfire on Friday morning
Post a Comment
Read more

Thai penis whitening trend raises eyebrows

Image copyright LELUXHOSPITAL Image caption Authorities warn the procedure could be quite painful A supposed trend of penis whitening has captivated Thailand in recent days and left it asking if the country's beauty industry is taking things too far. Skin whitening is nothing new in many Asian countries, where darker skin is often associated with outdoor labour, therefore, being poorer. But even so, when a clip of a clinic's latest intriguing procedure was posted online, it quickly went viral. Thailand's health ministry has since issued a warning over the procedure. The BBC Thai service spoke to one patient who had undergone the treatment, who told them: "I wanted to feel more confident in my swimming briefs". The 30-year-old said his first session of several was two months ago, and he had since seen a definite change in the shade. 'What for?' The original Facebook post from the clinic offering the treatment, which uses lasers to break do
1 comment
Read more