There are just over 80 days for approved political parties to contest the upcoming election according to the Junta’s unofficial announcement that the vote could take place in the month of October.

This is causing anxiousness and frustration as newly approved parties in Burma rush to meet requirements set out by authorities in the new election laws announced by state control media in March.

The long registration process and wait for approval by the Union Election Commission (EC) as well as the requirement to list the names of all party members, a shortage of funding and development of  campaign strategies in particular regions puts the parties under pressure and has kept them very busy, said sources from some newly approved parties.

“We already know that it’s not possible to complete all the things we planned, but we will go step by step and follow the rules”, said Kaung Myint Htut, founder of the Myanmar Democracy Congress (MDC), which was approved in July. The party is targeting young people for membership.

He also said, “We can accomplish all we have planned in our campaign strategy if we have enough funding. But now, it’s not possible to implement what we want to do”.

Some politicians are saying the election can be held any time, whether Burmese democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi was released in November or not. That’s because her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) is not re-registered to contest the election and she was banned from participating in the election by the new electoral laws.

According to electoral law, a registered party has to have at least 1,000 members to run nationally and a minimum of 500 members to contest the election at the state level. These numbers have to be confirmed with the EC within 90 days of approval to form a party. If not, the party will be disqualified and be abolished automatically.

Many newly formed parties are weak financially and are under pressure to raise money to pay for their campaigns.

Some are running their offices on contributions from working groups within their party and collecting donations from party members.

Recently, the Peace and Diversity Party advertised online, asking for donations of kyat 6 lukh (USD$618.55) in order to cover the costs of registration fees- including 5 lakh of security deposit for party publication, which is needed to pay the government censorship board.

The party is also trying to raise Kyat 50 lakh (equivalent to $5,154.63) to run its office and to campaign across the country, said a member.

A total of 39 political parties were approved out of the 46 that initially registered to contest the 2010 election.

Five already existing parties re-registered under the new election laws.

They include the National Unity Party (NUP), the Union of Karen/Kayin League (UKL), the Mro or Khami National Solidarity Organization (MKNSO), Kokang Democracy and Unity Party (KDUP) and Lahu National Progressive Party (LNPP).

They all ran in 1990.

The NUP, which was formed by retired military personnel and former members of the Burma Socialist Program Party (BSPP), came in third with 10 out of 492 seats in that election.

Han Shwe, a spokesperson for the NUP said, “As we are an old party, we have no problem when other newly formed parties are struggling to form policies and complete. Our party is able to campaign and contest the election within the short timeframe.”

He said their competitors nationally will include the U Thu Wai Party (Democratic Party), USDP (United Solidarity Development Party) and the 88 Generation Student Youth’s Union of Myanmar.

But the General Secretary of the New Era People Party (NEPP), veteran politician Htun Aung Kyaw, told Thailand based Burma News International (BNI), “We are too busy to collect party membership lists to submit to the EC because we are campaigning country wide.”

The party had over 2 lakh party supporters from Irrawaddy Division, Rangoon, Mandalay, Sagaing Division. It was initially formed in the late 1980’s and contested the 1990 election as the Unity and Progressive Party in 10 different regions. But it was not successful and was dissolved by the government on 1992.

Now the party is busy making a list of 1,000 of members to submit to the Election Commission in July.

Htun Aung Kyaw said, “We are as rushed and busy as the other parties are. I hope we can submit membership lists to the EC and we hope we can finish the process and campaign country-wide because we already have branch offices in different areas”.

Some new parties are concerned the public is not paying attention to them and are unhappy because authorities are monitoring party activities very closely.

They also complained about heavy censorship on articles published in weekly journals.

The majority of political parties said government censorship is one of the major challenges for them.

According to a government report, over 30 lakh out of the 59.12 lakh population are eligible to vote in the upcoming election.

However, some experts and analysts inside and outside Burma have noted the public is showing less interest in politics after the well-known opposition party, the National League of Democracy ( NLD), lead by revered public figure and democracy icon Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, decided not to contest the election.

But some politicians strongly believe the public will eventually show more interest in the election because it is the first one in 20 years.

Many members of the public predict a victory for the junta backed United Solidarity Development Party (USDP). According to documents recently leaked from the USDP, the party is confident it will win the election and is gearing up to focus its campaign in rural Burma, where 70% of the population lives.

The USDP began campaigning for the 2010 election in 2009.

The NEPP’s General Secretary said, “It’s not easy to defeat the USDP. But we will try our best in the places where we are going to contest”.

The USDP is lead by Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein, a retired general. It is backed by the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA). The USDP is getting the full support of the regime and plans to contest the election country wide.

Some political parties are considering forming alliances to contest the 2010 election.

One alliance may include the Democratic Party (Myanmar), Shan National Democratic Party (SNDP) and Union Democratic Party (UDP) and National Democratic Force (NDF).

But a politician involved in discussions about the alliance said, “It’s more difficult to form an alliance at this time because the parties were only recently approved and have many things to do.”

On the other hand, not less than 15ethnic political parties have been formed to represent their particular ethnic groups. However, the Kachin State Progressive Party ( KSPP), led by Dr.Tuja, the United Democracy Party-Kachin State ( UDP-KS) and the Northern Shan State Progressive Party (NSSPP) have not yet received approval by the EC.

Mizzima reported a junta minister reportedly told Kachin leaders recently that KSPP chairman, Dr.Tuja, was ineligible to form the party due to his links with the KIO. But the party will be legally allowed to form if Dr.Tuja will take a patron position in the party instead of Chairman.

Aung Kyaw Zaw, an analyst based on the China-Burma border said, “Dr.Tuja has participated in the junta’s National Convention from the begging to the end. But the military generals have not forgotten he was a former KIO leader who served for more than three decades and influenced the Kachin People as their leader.”

Dr.Tuja and five other top KIO leaders officially announced their resignation from the organization in September 2009. The KIO’s armed wing the Kachin Independent Army (KIA) entered into a cease fire with the military regime on 1994.

The KIO has rejected joining the regime’s proposed Border Guard Force (BGF) offer after several talks with junta leaders.

KSPP leaders discussed their application for approval with the EC in mid-July.

The KSPP is reportedly continuing campaigning, even though the party was not yet approved by the EC.