Political candidates have many ways of reaching voters. They can hit the streets. They can knock on doors. They can hold rallies.
Win Ko Ko Win can’t do any of these things.
His “constituency” is in the middle of the sea. And with a month to go before the elections on November 8, he hasn’t been able to visit, though not for lack of effort.
He is running as an opposition National League for Democracy candidate in the Coco Islands, a small archipelago off the southwestern tip of Myanmar that is technically part of Yangon Region.
The largest of the islands was once home to an infamous political prison under Ne Win that came to be known as Burma’s “Rock” or “Devil’s Island.” When a prisoner escaped from the facility in 1970, he was labeled “Burma’s Papillon” after a story that inspired the blockbuster film with Dustin Hoffman and Steve McQueen.
Win Ko Ko Win is Burma’s Papillon in reverse. He can’t get to the islands, and is blaming the ruling party for stopping him, according to a report in BBC’s Myanmar service.
Why does Coco Island Township, as its called, even have its own constituency? Who knows. At about 180 miles from the mainland, it’s not close. About 1,000 people live on the largest piece of territory called Great Coco, but many are connected to Myanmar’s Navy, whose headquarters replaced the prison. Others work on an airstrip. The area is also the subject of frequent speculation about a Chinese military presence.
This looks like the local NLD office on the island, which was shared on Win Ko Ko Win’s Facebook next to a photo (pictured above) of the shoreline.
You can fly or sail, but Win Ko Ko Win told the BBC that it’s expensive to hire a ship. Even if he had the money, he suspects that boat owners were told not to ferry anyone in the NLD. He is up against two members of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party.
He also claims that the regional government arranged flights for election campaigners, but NLD members weren’t allowed to tag along because there wasn’t enough space. Coconuts Yangon could not verify the allegations.
Win Ko Ko Win did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But a post from a supporter on his Facebook page yesterday spoke to the bizarre and somewhat futile campaign of this man without a constituency.
“Dear NLD candidates for Coco Island, you’ll reach there at the end. I will say it again, you must be there at the end.”
Photos of Coco Island / Facebook / Win Ko Ko Win
