a. no speech that can tarnish the non-disintegration of the union, the non-disintegration of national solidarity, or the perpetuation of sovereignty; b. no speech that can disturb the security, rule of law, and the peace and stability of the country; c. no speech that disrespects existing laws and the Constitution of Myanmar; d. no speech that defames the nation or tarnishes its image; e. no speech that brings about the disintegration of the Tatmadaw or defames it; f. no speech or incitement that can cause racial or religious conflict or that can harm dignity and morality; g. no speech that exploits religions for politics; h. no incitement to obstruct the pursuance of peaceful education; and i. no incitement to civil service personnel not to perform their duty or to oppose the government. Several political parties, however, alleged that they experienced censorship with their campaign speeches to be broadcast over state-owned channel MRTV. As a result, at least seven parties — the People's Party, United Nationalities Democratic Party, Democratic Party for a New Society 43, Arakan Front Party, Union Danu League for Democracy, Chin National League for Democracy 44, Kachin State People's Party 45 — decided not to broadcast their campaign speeches 46. Parties said they were directed to remove references to "oppression", "child poverty", "second class citizens", "electricity prices" and use of the term "nationality on citizen identity cards", among others 47. MRTV, in a statement dated 18 September, said "campaign speeches of political parties were not edited" and that "state-owned dailies published the whole texts of campaign speeches from broadcasting without making any editing 48". Human Rights Watch has urged the UEC to “amend rules governing political parties’ access to stateowned radio and television stations to ensure that all parties can present their position without undue interference 49”. NGO Article 19 further said UEC-issued Notification 138/2020 “contains highly problematic restrictions on political speech” and asked the UEC to “withdraw the notification and refrain from initiating prosecutions of individuals on grounds incompatible with international human rights laws 50”. Conclusion ANFREL estimates that the campaign environment ahead of the 2020 general elections in Myanmar was not entirely free and fair, in part because of the unprecedented backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. As health guidelines and travel restrictions were adopted to flatten the curve of an active outbreak, the campaign could not possibly display the same level of engagement as with the historic 2015 elections. Parties had to rely on more local and small-scale events; online campaigning became 43 https://mizzima.com/article/two-political-parties-accuse-uec-censorship https://www.bnionline.net/en/news/cnld-boycotts-mrtv-over-censored-speech 45 https://kachinnews.com/2020/10/13/kspp-wont-air-policy-speech-on-mrtv/ 46 https://mizzima.com/article/six-parties-decide-not-broadcast-election-campaign-speeches 47 https://mm.boell.org/en/2020/10/05/no-free-elections-without-free-media 48 https://www.gnlm.com.mm/campaign-speeches-of-political-parties-not-edited-for-broadcasting-on-mrtv-andpublishing-in-dailies/ 49 https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/08/14/myanmar-revise-election-broadcast-rules 50 https://www.article19.org/resources/myanmar-as-campaign-period-begins-freedom-of-expressionviolations-ramp-up/ 44 23