USDA Township Committees across Arakan State have been scrapped by higher authorities after the organization converted to a political party to contest the forthcoming election, said a source close to USDA officials in Maungdaw on the western Burma border.

"They intend to form new committees with new members of the USDA for the election, so the authorities abolished all the current township committees in Arakan State," the source said.

Arakan State has 17 townships and the committees in all townships have become defunct in the restructuring.

"The USDA authorities abolished all township committees not only in Arakan State but also in other parts of Burma to form new committees with well known and respected members, including businessmen, educated people, and retired government officials," the source added.

A friend of U Khin Maung, who was secretary of the Maungdaw Township, USDA confirmed to Narinjara over telephone that U Khin Maung is no longer the USDA secretary of the township, and has become an ordinary member, adding that "he will not be selected as secretary of Maungdaw Township again because he is a government employee."

The USDA township committees are likely to be recast with respected members, who are not government officials or civil servants, in order to garner votes in the election. The USDA has been recruiting many worthy people, including retired officials who are well educated, and other respected people from the village to township level.

However, the authorities have not abolished district-level committees nor division and state-level committees.

The USDA party has applied for registration with the Election Commission under Prime Minister U Thein Sein, now a former Lieutenant General, to contest the election. The move came after 23 ministers in the Burmese regime's cabinet resigned from their military posts on Monday.