Mon Women’s Party to compete in 2015 elections

May 31, 2015

On 28 May, 2015 the Women’s Party (Mon), a political party representing the interests of Mon women, received official registration. Formed in October 2014, the Women’s Party was founded by Mi Than Shin, a former member of the Shin Saw Pu Mon Women empowerment Association. In an interview with HURFOM the day after receiving registration, Mi Than Shin spoke about the party’s origins and hopes to win votes in this year’s upcoming elections.

According to Mi Than Shin, the idea of creating the Women’s Party was formed when a group of women went on a field trip to Tenasserim Region to collect population data from Mon communities. During their field trip the group found that Mon communities in Tenasserim Region displayed a Burmese identity and did not speak Mon. The group wanted to do something to help Mon communities in this region regain their ethnic identity. However, they felt that they could not achieve this through involvement with existing Mon political parties, given that they were considered to deny women an equal voice. Mi Shin Than detailed, “They don’t like us because we always try to be equal with men. So we decided that we should form a party to get involved in politics”.

The group were further motivated by worries that divisions between the two existing Mon political parties might jeopardise the chances of Mon parties in 2015’s elections; Mi Than Shin explained that, in forming their own political party, the group of women hoped to create a neutral third force that would unite existing parties, while also giving primacy to women’s concerns.

Mi Than Shin explained to HURFOM that the main goal of the Women’s Party is to achieve equality, establishing equal rights between men and women, and amongst women of different ethnic backgrounds. According to Mi Than Shin, now that the Women’s Party has received official registration it will compete in this year’s upcoming elections. It is hoped that if the party wins votes, Mon women’s voices will be elevated and the party will be able to initiate progress. Mi Than Shin said, “We believe our women have capability too. We will work with women from all over the world. We want to strengthen the lives of Mon women; we will work for Mon people to be united and to win votes in the coming election”.

However, Mi Than Shin emphasised that, despite gender equality playing a key role in the party’s agenda, the Women’s Party is also hoping to appeal to broader concerns. Detailing plans for the future, Mi Than Shin explained, “As most of [the party’s members] come from the Shin Saw Pu Mon Women empowerment Association, there are many issues we are going to work on, such as social, economic, political, health and education issues. We will work on these issues as much as we can […] Although this is a women’s party, it does not just help to improve the situation of women, but also that of the Mon community as a whole. We would like to ask everyone to support us”.

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News