Matters India Reporter
Yangon, February 6, 2020 — In an open letter written to Myanmar rulers dated February 6, 2020, Salesian cardinal Charles Maung Bo archbishop of Yangon has made a passionate appeal to restore voting rights to the country’s religious men and women.
“The Constitution of Myanmar, in Article 392 (a), prohibits members of religious orders [namely] Buddhist monks and nuns, Catholic priests and religious, other Christian clergy, Muslim clerics and others are denied the right to vote,” the cardinal wrote.
The 72-year old cardinal lamented saying, “As Cardinal I can make statements and speeches and encourage citizens to vote, but I am myself barred from voting. This is an extremely unusual arrangement. I am not aware of any other democracy in which this is a requirement.”
The cardinal who is also president of Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conference concluded the letter assuring of his prayers, “for our country, in the hope that these elections will be conducted in a way that is peaceful, respectful, democratic, free and fair and that takes our country forward towards peace and human rights for everyone, of every ethnicity and religion in Myanmar.”
Myanmar’s polls, expected in late 2020, will be managed by the Union Election Commission (UEC). The all-male election authority changed its leadership in 2016 and is currently led by ex-university rector U Hla Thein.
The letter published ahead of upcoming elections, also expresses several apprehensions such as the Presidential order in February 2015 disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of temporary registration certificate holders, including a large number of people of Chinese and Indian descent and the Muslims in northern Rakhine, was discriminatory with no real possibility of appeal.
The cardinal also expressed his fear, of “practical and institutional obstacles” to the voting rights of IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons), mostly ethnic minorities, should also be addressed ahead of the elections.