Bahan Township is shaping up to be one of the more interesting battlegrounds in the elections come November.
Comprising 22 wards, the placid area just north of Kandawgyi lake is the setting for a turbulent contest.
All eyes are on Nyo Nyo Thin, the Yangon Region parliamentarian who is known for voicing opposition to mega-developments in the city. The conservative Buddhist group Ma Ba Tha can claim credit for thwarting the biggest of those projects, Dagon City 1, but Nyo Nyo Thin was a lonely voice of opposition well before Ma Ba Tha dialed up the fury.
She’s getting used to being a lonely voice.
After getting rejected from Aung San Suu Kyi’s party in August, Nyo Nyo Thin has chosen to run as an independent. According to the Myanmar Times, she even has a nickname: the “solo running horse” of Yangon.
Despite the fact that Nyo Nyo Thin is going up against five candidates, including two from Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy and the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party, her campaign is confident.
“We feel happy as everyone knows Nyo Nyo Thin wherever we go for campaigning, and most of them said they would vote for Nyo Nyo Thin,” said Nilar Win, a member of her team.
Nyo Nyo Thin was not available for comment, but in interviews she has expressed confidence while acknowledging the awkwardness of the situation. She may have been rejected from the NLD, but she still claims to support them outside of Bahan.
Win Htein, an activist working for land right issues, said at Nyo Nyo Thin’s campaign office earlier this month that voters should choose NLD across the country, but not in Bahan.
Suu Kyi is clearly worried about this phenomenon. She has urged voters not to choose independent candidates as the NLD’s presence could be diminished as a result.
One of Nyo Nyo Thin’s campaign pamphlets sets out to allay concerns on that front.
“The vote that you give for independent candidates will not stop the formation of a new government by big parties,” it reads.
That message may be translating well in the minds of some voters.
Aye Aye Yi, a 35-year-old woman from Bahan, said that the solo running horse has her vote already, but outside of that she’s a Suu Kyi supporter.
“I have to vote in three places, Amyotha Hluttaw (Upper House], Pyithu Hluttaw [Lower House] and Regional Parliament. I’ll vote Nyo Nyo Thin for Pyithu Hluttaw and vote NLD for the two other places.”
Photos and text / Aung Naing Soe
