The Mon Unity Party has until October 8 to submit a list of 1,000 party members.

The newly maerged Mon Unity Party (MUP) has been given permission to register with the Union Election Commission (UEC), according to the party’s joint secretary, Nai San Tin.

“We received the permission letter from the UEC today [July 11]. So our party is now allowed to register with the UEC,” Nai San Tin told NMG.

The MUP was formed through a merger of two other Mon parties—the All Mon Regions Democracy Party (AMDP) and the Mon National Party (MNP)—in response to public demands, including from Mon monks, for a single party to represent Mon interests.

According to Section 5(f) of the Political Party Registration Act, the MUP must submit a list of at least 1,000 party members to the UEC within 90 days. The deadline for submission is October 8.

After the merger of the AMDP and the MNP, the leaders of the new party applied to the UEC in December 2018 for permission to form the MUP. Permission was granted on May 17, 2019.

According to the leaders of the MUP, the process of merging the Mon political parties is now complete. Their next priority, they said, is to form organizing committees and strengthen the party.

The MUP has 140 Central Committee members, including 59 Central Executive Committee members, four chairmen, and six secretariat members.

MUP leaders are trying to persuade Mon political activists, youths and women to join the party.