RANGOON — Burma’s outgoing Union Election Commission (UEC) chair discussed some of the body’s shortcomings over the past five years in a meeting with National League for Democracy (NLD) chairwoman Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyidaw on Tuesday.
The hour-long meeting, which took place at the UEC’s headquarters in Naypyidaw, was also attended by other electoral officials and NLD central committee members.
“We were weak in giving voter education at ward and village level though we did well at township level,” UEC chairman Tin Aye said during the dialogue, according to a press release issued by the commission.
He said sub-commissions had also faced various difficulties, including securing office space, and had to seek help from government ministries.
Tin Aye also relayed some of the tasks of the commission going forward.
“The voter lists which are saved on the main server need to be updated each six months,” the chairman said, adding that he would offer suggestions for the amendment of election laws and by-laws for the new parliament.
UEC director Thein Oo, who attended Monday’s meeting—the first confab between Suu Kyi and Tin Aye since the November general election—said the NLD leader thanked the commission for facilitating a peaceful vote.
Prior to the poll, many questioned whether the UEC, under the stewardship of Tin Aye, a former general and Union Solidarity and Development Party lawmaker, would be an impartial arbiter.
However, the poll was largely seen as credible, despite shortcomings including voter list errors and a lack of access to polling stations in military cantonments, among others.
