The ALD was founded on 27 September 1989, in Yangon, and it was registered with the election commission on 2 October 1989. It contested 25 seats in the 1990 general elections,[1] receiving the majority of the vote at the Rakhine State.[2] Nationally it received 1.2% of the vote, winning 11 seats, making it the third-largest party.[3] However, the ALD was banned by the military government on 6 March 1992.[4]
On 6 April 2012, the ALD was allowed to be re-established as a political party by the Union Election Commission, as its application complied with the law and rules of the election commission.[5] In November, members of the ALD claimed that they had been threatened by local authorities with the abolition of the party, due to an alleged recruitment membership fraud.[2]
On 8 January 2017, former leaders of the ALD announced that they were splitting from the ANP and were re-registering with the Union Election Commission for the 2020 elections, citing internal issues and RNDP dominance in the ANP as the reasons for the split.[11][12] As of 5 October 2017, five members of parliament — four state Hluttaw members and one Amyotha Hluttaw member — have resigned from the Arakan National Party and joined the re-registered Arakan League for Democracy.[13]
References
^Robert H Taylor (2009) The State in Myanmar, NUS Press
