State Budgets Become Ballot Boxes: Mon State Chief Minister’s Vote-Drive Counters Free and Fair Election Standards

November 6, 2025

HURFOM: In Mon State, the current Chief Minister is using his official power, budgetary resources and state-sponsored projects for election campaign purposes. Observers say public funds earmarked for education, social welfare and religious festivals are being deployed as tools to win votes, leveraging service delivery as campaigning under the guise of governance.

On 5 November, an event was held at the Rama Nyein Hall to distribute support items to 30 primary schools filing for the 2025-26 academic year’s Schools Budget and award. These hand-outs came from state budget allocations and were originally intended for the school year ahead, but the timing, just before the campaign season, suggests a calculated attempt to earn public favour. Some education officials, speaking anonymously, say the Chief Minister, U Aung Kyi Thein, should be ashamed of this obvious vote-seeking tactic.

While Mon State and other Southern part regions, including Bago, Mon, Karen and Tanintharyi Regions are still enmeshed in armed conflict, the administration has carried on as though everything is peaceful, holding large religious or cultural festivals and showcasing “normality” in front of voters. Locals say these are not innocent community events, but part of a USDP-organised drive to ensure electoral victory: “They’re using national budget funds and campaign rhetoric like ‘if USDP wins next time we will bring prosperity’, yet we all know the opposite is more likely,” said one 40-year-old resident of Kyaikmayaw Township.

In early November, a 37th-anniversary Golf tournament took place in Mawlamyine’s Ngan Tae golf course, organised by the General Administration Department of Mon State’s Junta. The event featured state funding, religious ceremonies, and public pledges, again, observers say the aim is to blur governance and campaign.

In villages around Kyaikmayaw, the USDP has also started vocational training programmes under the banner of “indigenous and minority rights protection” even where minor ethnic communities say they had never been offered such support before. These sessions are anchored by the ethnic affairs minister and local party functionaries, pointing to direct party campaign methods disguised as development.
A young villager in Kyaikmayaw told our field team:

“They’ve done things in our township they never did before, just to show how much the USDP cares. It’s all happening now so people will vote for them. Even worse, they’re using state funds for it.””By turning government activities into campaign events, the Junta is treating people like they are receiving gifts from the state instead of allowing them to make their own choices. This kind of behavior damages the fairness of the election, gives an unfair advantage to the junta-backed party, and makes it harder for other parties to compete, especially in Mon State, where people are already suffering from conflict.” A 50-year-old community leader in Mudon township criticized.

“For communities that are still facing violence and displacement, these campaign tactics are harmful. They make people dependent on the junta’s handouts and strengthen its control instead of providing real, rights-based support,” he added.

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News