The Mon National Party (MNP) plans to draw a draft outline of representatives qualifications, which the party will use as a basis to select potential party representatives for the 2015 general election.
According to MNP General Secretary Nai Layih Tamarh, the MNP will hold a central committee meeting on 17 March, during which the committee will select representatives from the nominees presented.
He said: “After the executive committee (EC) finishes the draft, the EC will get [the draft] approved by the central committee, and it will make decisions [for the selection of party representatives]. At the moment, the EC is still drawing up the draft…and, [on 17 March] it will be announced who will contest and how many representatives will contest for which constituencies,”.
The MNP’s draft of representatives qualifications was produced at the MNP’s 28 February executive committee meeting, held at the party's headquarters in the Myaintharyar quarter of Mawlamyine.
Concerned with the qualifications of party representatives, freelance political advisor Ko Min Nyaung Htun remarked that the qualifications for selecting [MNP] representatives must include political experience, leadership experience, proven competence in decision-making abilities, and the ability to work according to the democratic system.
He said: “Although it is said that if you are educated you can be a leader, the reality is that it is important for politicians to have political skills. They should be people who are aware of [the] current political situation and future political situations, and who are able to think critically and analyze the situation.
"They [a leader] should not think that they just have to get to the Hluttaw [parliament], and that’s all, they should be the people who are able to settle a political policy and work for creating policy for the people, that is my point of view. The main point is that they must be the people who are able to stand firm on the people’s side."
Previous reports have alleged that the MNP will compete in the Mon State elections, and elections in other areas which are home to Mon communities, such as Rangoon and Pegu divisions, Karen State and Tenasserim Division, but this has yet to be confirmed by the party itself.
The MNP contested the 1990 elections, under its former name of the Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF), winning 5 parliamentary positions in the 19 constituencies in which it ran.
During the MNP’s first congress, held during the last week of January 2015, the party decided that, though it did not compete for the 2010 elections, it would contest the upcoming 2015 elections.
