MANDALAY—All of the Mandalay regional government ministers from the National League for Democracy (NLD) will contest the coming election, according to regional Minister for Electricity, Energy and Construction U Zarni Aung.

“All [ministers] will contest the election. They have submitted candidacy applications in line with party rules and regulations,” he told The Irrawaddy.

The six NLD members in the regional cabinet—Chief Minister Dr. Zaw Myint Maung; U Zarni Aung; Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Minister Dr. Soe Than; Resources and Environmental Conservation Minister U Myo Thit; Immigration and Human Resources Minister U Aung Kyi; and Minister for Shan Ethnic Affairs Sai Parn Seng—will run in the same constituencies in which they won in the 2015 general election.

Dr. Zaw Myint Maung will run in Amarapura Township; U Zarni Aung in Maha Aungmye Township; Dr. Soe Than in Chanayethazan Township; U Myo Thit in Mogok Township; and U Aung Kyi in Kyaukse Township.

The NLD’s Mandalay Region chapter is still accepting candidacy applications for the election, and will release the list of candidates around the end of June, party secretary U Tin Ko Ko told The Irrawaddy.

Among the Mandalay regional government’s six non-NLD members, the border affairs and security minister is a military appointee, two others are civilian intellectuals, and the remainder are the chief judge, advocate-general and auditor-general of the region.

Mandalay Mayor Dr. Ye Lwin told The Irrawaddy he had no plan to contest the 2020 election, despite rumors that he would run in Aungmyaythazan Township.

The Union Election Commission said the general election would be held in November as planned, despite the ongoing coronavirus outbreak in the country.