Myanmar Army, backing Arakan Army’s demand, on Thursday called for the election to be held by 1 February 2021 in strife-torn part of Rakhine and Shan state where voting was cancelled for security reasons during the 8 November 2020 general election.
“The elections should be held before newly-elected lawmakers are sworn in the second Union parliament controlled by the National League for Democracy (NLD), and meet for the first time at the beginning of February,” the military said in a statement.
Two months ago, the military and the rebel Arakan Army (AA) announced a temporary ceasefire to allow voting in areas of Rakhine state where the two sides were engaged in military clashes that started two years ago. Myanmar’s forces recently extended their ceasefire until 31 January 2021.
