Blogger and anti-hate speech campaigner Nay Phone Latt will run in the upcoming election as a candidate for the opposition National League for Democracy.
Nay Phone Latt, a former political prisoner, told Mizzima News that he would stand for a seat in the Yangon regional parliament, representing Thinganyun Township.
“I decided to choose the NLD as my parents and grandparents supported the NLD,” he said. “Regional parliaments are not so active – I decided to compete because we can do a better job if the regional parliaments are active.”
Nay Phone Latt, who is in his thirties, was arrested in 2008 under section 5 of the 1950 Emergency Provision Act which criminalized attempts to ‘disrupt morality’ or security.
He was released as part of a general amnesty in 2012 and later founded the Panzagar, or ‘Flower Speech’ campaign against hate speech.
The upcoming poll, predicted to be the most free and fair in decades, is scheduled for November 8.
Photo / Aung Naing Soe / Coconuts Yangon
