religion’ issues. A Central Committee statement posted on social media on November 4th stated that the Ma Ba Tha maintained its impartiality, but welcomed “the transition to a democratic country with nationalist characteristics.” It further warned that, “Any individual or organization who is disrupting the passage of the Myoe-Saute laws and Ma Ba Tha works is in fact disrupting the race and religion of our motherland Myanmar.”365 After electoral results were released, the Ma Ba Tha congratulated the NLD, but urged them to “march forward in the path to democracy by respecting the existing law,”366 as seen on a copy of the statement posted on social media. Similarly, individual monks have also taken a cautious but pragmatic outlook. Wirathu in October had noted that, "If the NLD forms the government and if they try to amend the [race and religion] laws, they will have to deal with Ma Ba Tha.” 367 After results were released, Wirathu acknowledged the “surprising” NLD victory and his concerns that the NLD’s platform on “human rights” and “minorities” would be to the detriment of the ‘race and religion.’368 However, he also suggested that there would be no confrontation as long as the NLD did not act in a way countering Ma Ba Tha’s philosophy, such as rescinding the Race and Religion Laws or opposing ‘nationalist issues.’369 370 371 Other monks such as Ashin Sopaka have taken much the same line, noting that, “We will welcome and support any party that takes office. But we will be watching what the next government does for race and religion […] And we will not accept any insults to race and religion. That is our policy.”372 Furthermore, in the November 24 edition of Tharki-thwe that was posted on social media, Ashin Sopaka points out that the Ma Ba Tha has never sided with any political parties or politicians, and will continue to strive for a nationalist cause.373 He warns that “any official who tries to obstruct Ma Ba Tha cause will need to change their behavior...[he’d] like to urge new MPs to be loyal to the nation, race, and religion” and that “those who come into power try to offend our race and religion and ‘race and religion protection laws,’ that individual won’t last long,” according to information posted on his Facebook.374 Small and Independent Politicians During the run-up to the election, a wide range of smaller political parties and politicians gravitated toward the Ma Ba Tha. Many strongly backed the Race and Religion Laws, including the National Development Party (NDP), run by former Presidential political advisor Nay Zin Latt, 375 376 who campaigned on ‘race and religion issues,’ and the National Democratic Force (NDF), a splinter NLD faction, which helped the Ma Ba Tha draft the Race and Religion Laws.377 All of these parties suffered crushing defeats with the NLD’s electoral sweep. The NDP fielded 354 candidate admissions, making it the fourth largest party in the country,378 but failed to win a single seat.379 380 The rest fared little better; the only party that did remotely well was the Arakan National Party, which fielded 78 candidates and won 45 seats.381 382 The Arakan National Party, formed in 2013 after a merger between Arakan League for Democracy and Rakhine Nationalities Development Party, is comprised of Rakhine Buddhists and is known for its hardline position on various Muslim related issues.383 384 Many of these parties supported the Ma Ba Tha to different degrees. Some, such as the National Democratic Force that held eight seats across both houses of parliament and lost them all, were fairly overt in their support. Despite NDF Chairman Khin Maung Shwe’s statement in September 2015 that it is important for “political parties not to include religious issues in their campaign,”385 the party helped introduce the draft interfaith marriage bills into parliament.386 387 Wirathu spoke at the party’s annual conference on May 16, 2015,388 and in a September interview further stated that, “[the Ma Ba Tha] are close with small political parties such as the National Democratic Force… We see that these parties revere and respect protecting our nationality and religion.”389 This relationship has existed for some 38