Mro Ethnic Party in Rakhine State has applied for registration as a new political party under Union Election Commission (UEC) of Myanmar.

The military regime-run newspaper Myanmar Light reported that the Mro ethnic party has recently applied for registration.

Mro Ethnic Party chairman U Aye Tun informed Narinjara News that they took the decision to represent the Mro people and finally to enable dialogues with other political parties and military government.

"The purpose of re-registration is to represent our ethnic group in a proper forum. Moreover, we need to talk to the government for various Mro people initiatives. It is also about organizing our own people within the framework of the law and establishing a party," he added.

Even applying for a new party registration, the party will decide later whether they would contest or not in the elections conducted by the UEC.

"UEC has not yet announced anything about the election. So, we have not decided whether to participate in the elections or not," he asserted.

Soon after the UEC issued a new set of guidelines for the political party’s registration process on 26 January, it invited parties to apply under the new laws.

The military council's statement also stated that the parties must apply for registration within 60 days from 31 January last, otherwise their status will be cancelled as political parties.

Till date, Rakhine State Party (led by Dr Aye Maung),  Arakan National Party,  Khami National Development Party,  Rakhine National United Party and Myo Ethnic Party have applied for their re-registration.

Rakhine League for Democracy has decided not to register with the UEC.

The EUC has not yet announced any date of polls till now, but many polling stations have been set up in Rakhine State. State election commission sub-secretary U Thurin Htun informed Narinjara News that the process of publishing the voter’s list has already started.