Dr. Manam Tu Ja, leader of the dissolved Kachin State Progressive Party (KSPP) and five former senior party officers have applied for membership in the Burmese junta’s proxy party- the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), said sources close to the applicants.

The membership applications by the KSPP leaders were submitted to the Kachin State Office of the USDP in the capital, Myitkyina, last week, sources said.

According to sources close to the USDP, the party is now considering whether they should accept the applications of the former KSPP leaders.

Dr. Manam Tu Ja was former Vice-chairman No.2 of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO). All of the other five KSPP officers--- N'Ja Naw Rip, Dukaba Wa Ndu Mung Hkawng, Dukaba Paushi Zau Hpan, Dukaba Nuk Le and Salang kaba Sabaw Krang, were also high ranking officers in the KIO.

On September 2, 2009, the KIO dismissed Dr. Tu Ja and five officers from the organization, because they wanted to contest the regime-run election on November 7, 2010 while the KIO was increasingly under pressure to transform into the Burmese Army-controlled Border Guard Force.

The KSPP was not approved to compete in the election by the regime-controlled Election Commission because it was led by former KIO officers and the KIO rejected the regime’s proposal to transform into the Border Guard Force, party officers said.

The KSPP dissolved itself just before Election Day because of pressure from the military regime, according to party leaders.

Politically, the KSPP’s efforts to participate in the election earned it the support of people in Kachin State and major Kachin organizations, including the Kachin Nationals Consultative Assembly (KNCA) and the KIO.

KIO leaders are reluctant to make any comment on the applications by the former KIO and KSPP leaders for membership in the USDP.

Kachin political analysts are questioning the credibility of Dr. Tu Ja and his five aides and their commitment to the liberation of Kachin people and establishing democracy in Burma.