 In accordance to the Constitution of Myanmar, the Chief Minister must be selected from a member of the state legislature, and thus as part of his party's campaign he ran as a candidate for the state legislature in Manaung Township.However, during the elections, he lost the race to the candidate from the National League for Democracy, leading some Arakanese to denounce Manaung residents as traitors to the 'Arakan cause'.Ultimately, his party failed to secure both the position of Chief Minister as well as a majority in the Rakhine State Hluttaw.