Campaign Environment Code of Conduct for Political Parties and Candidates One of the innovations of Myanmar’s 2015 elections was the adoption of a Code of Conduct (CoC) for political parties and candidates to promote harmonious campaign practices. The code CoC was a set of voluntary ethical guidelines to avoid or resolve disputes otherwise not covered in the law. The initiative was and remains supported by the Swiss Embassy in Yangon. In the run-up to the 2020 general elections, Myanmar’s Union Election Commission (UEC) formed a working committee with political party representatives to draft a new CoC from October 2019 to June 2020. The committee consulted all political parties in March and April 2020 before producing a new CoC, based on the 2015 document but more comprehensive, containing seven main voluntary obligations as follows: - Commit to respect and promote the rights and freedoms of all political parties, candidates, and voters; - Commit to cooperate with the UEC in resolving disputes through dialogue and electoral mediation mechanisms; - Refrain from slandering other political parties/candidates and using religious or racial discriminatory messages in campaigns; - Maintain peace and stability while campaigning; - Promote a level playing field by not using state-owned resources, promoting a free media environment, and abiding with campaign expenditure regulations; - Promote diversity and inclusion by providing equal opportunities for different groups such as women, youth, differently-abled persons and people from marginalised groups; and - Establish a CoC monitoring committee to facilitate the implementation and take corrective action if necessary. The new CoC was signed on 26 June 2020 at a ceremony in Yangon. However, some 30 political parties, including the military-aligned USDP, refused to sign the document, ostensibly because it did not include a ban on the use of the images of General Aung San, a hero of Myanmar’s independence movement, and the father of NLD leader and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, in election campaigns 22. The boycott marks a departure from the practice of 2015, when all contesting parties agreed to sign the CoC, and caused concerns that campaigning in the 2020 elections may be less civil and orderly than in previous years. A Campaign Hampered by COVID-19 Set against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 60-day electoral campaign period for the 2020 Myanmar general elections started at 6 AM on 8 September 2020 for candidates and ended at midnight on 6 November. However, political parties were able to start campaign activities once the elections were announced on 1 July. All campaign activities had to cease during the cooling day, 7 22 https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/usdp-risks-disorderly-election-by-snubbing-code-of-conduct/ 17