The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which is backed by Burma’s military, is campaigning ethnic Kachin churches, using small donations to gain votes on November 7th, according to Kachin church sources.

On October 11, USDP candidate, U Thein Zaw, campaigned at the Kachin Roman Catholic Church in Gat Shang Yang Village, 18 miles south of Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State. Church sources said he made a donation 3 million kyat (est. US$3,109) to the church.

Thein Sein is a former Minister of Post, Communication and Telegraph of the ruling junta, and he is the USDP candidate for the People’s Parliament for Myitkyina Township.

The Church’s sources said, he concluded his election campaign speech in the church with, “Do vote only USDP”.

Father Gregory, of the Kachin Catholic Church in Myitkyina told the Thailand-based Kachin News Group, “Church followers have not chosen a party for the elections. The churches also have no intention to recommend any party or independent candidate to vote for on Election Day.”

Previously, the Kachin State Progressive Party (KSPP), led by Dr. Manam Tu Ja, former Vice-president No. 2 of Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), was heavily favored among Kachin voters. But it was prohibited from contesting the election by the junta-controlled Election Commission.

The KSPP dissolved itself on October 25 in response to pressure by the Burmese military, former KSPP leaders said. The KSPP was supported by the KIO, which rejected the junta’s order to surrender its weapons on August 30.

The KIO has called for the junta- controlled November election to be “free and fair”.

It also demands the junta restore the historic 1947 Panglong Agreement, which calls for the establishment of a genuine multi-ethnic union in Burma. It was signed by Burman leader, Gen. Aung San, and ethnic leaders.

In Kachin State, the three parties linked with the military rulers--- the USDP, the Unity and Democracy Party of Kachin State (UDPKS) and the National Unity Party (NUP), as well as the two independent parties--- the National Democratic Force (NDF) and the Shan Nationals Democratic Party (SNDP)--- will contest the election.

No independent Kachin party or individual candidate was accepted to contest the election in Kachin State by the EC.

The Buddhist Burmese military leaders have sought to win the political support of Kachin Christians with small cash and food donations, and by granting landline phones and mobiles and internet service since 2007, the conclusion of the National Convention which resulted in the drafting of the military-centered 2008 constitution.

In reality, ethnic minorities and Christians in Burma have been treated as second class citizens by the successive majority Burman-led governments since the country’s independence from Britain in 1948.