Prominent leaders of four state level Kachin political parties met recently in state capital Myitkyina to discuss cooperating in the 2015 national election.
Gumgrawng Awng Hkam head of Kachin Democratic Party (KDP) told the Kachin News Group other groups included Kachin State National Congress for Democracy (KNCD), the Kachin State Democracy Party (KSDP) and the Lisu National Development Party (LNDP) in Kachin Manau Park.
Several elders and respected leaders from six of the main Kachin subgroups was also present , according to organizer Lamawng La Tawng, a deacon with the Hpakant Kachin Baptist Church and leader of the Hpakant based People’s Voice Committee.
KDP chief Awng Hkam confirmed his party’s willingness to cooperate with any Kachin party in upcoming elections after being prompted by its constituency.
Dr. Manam Tu Ja , who was the second vice-person of the Kachin Independence Organization and now leads KSDP leader, also confirmed his party’s intentions to combine forces but after negotiations. Both KNCD and the LNDP were unable to be reached for comment.
Organizer La Tawng and five committee members had previously met separately with the leaders of the four parties in Myitkyina to convince them to work together. The deacon’s People’s Voice Committee represents more than 30,000 Kachin voters in Burma’s jade-rich Hpakant Township, and has a significant voter base in other areas of Kachin and northern Shan states.
The Union and Democracy Party of Kachin State (UDPKS), a sister party of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) led by Hkyet Hting Nan, was invited but didn’t join the meeting.
No Kachin party, apart from UDPKS, was allowed to contest the 2010 elections by the government-controlled Union Election Commission.
The committee, concerned the vote will be split in the upcoming elections warned that should any Kachin party refused to cooperate its members will not vote them.
