Myanmar bars candidate from election

Myanmar bars candidate from election
Rohingya candidate Abdul Rasheed, a member of the Democracy and Human Rights Party, poses for a photo in the party's office in Yangon on August 12, 2020. Photo: Sai Aung Mai/AFP

A Rohingya Muslim has been barred from standing in Myanmar's upcoming election, in a decision decried by rights groups as discriminatory.

Three Rohingya-led parties had hoped to field at least a dozen candidates in November's vote, according to regional watchdog Fortify Rights.

But Abdul Rasheed, 58, a member of the Democracy and Human Rights Party, told AFP on Wednesday that his candidacy was rejected by the district election commission in Rakhine state capital Sittwe a day earlier.

The commission said this was because his parents were not Myanmar citizens when he was born, Rasheed said -- even though he had proof his parents and grandparents were granted citizenship in 1957, four years before his birth.

"This is not in line with the law," he said, adding he would appeal the decision.

"The Rohingya are being degraded so we cannot compete."

The Muslim minority has had citizenship and other rights eroded over decades.

Rasheed, who said his father worked as a Myanmar government civil servant for more than 30 years, also tried without success to stand in the country's landmark 2015 election.

The Rakhine State election commission in Sittwe denied any unfair treatment of Rasheed.

"He wasn't rejected because he is a Muslim but because his application was not in line with the electoral law," chairperson Tin Hlaing told AFP.

© AFP