The Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP) has been registered by the Union Election Commission to contest the forthcoming general elections, the junta run newspaper the New Light of Myanmar reported on 3 May.
There are 30 political parties that have registered and among them 24 have been cleared so far. The permission depends on each party’s policy, according to UEC.
Meanwhile, the Union Democratic Alliance Organization (UDAO) that was formed by the veteran Shan politician Shwe Ohn is yet to find out whether its application is being considered by the UEC. It had applied for registration months before most of the other parties were formed. But according to UEC, the party applied only on 8 April.
The SNDP was formed in early April and applied for registration to the Election Commission on the same day. Its party Chairman is Sai Ai Pao, the well to do salt trader from Namkham, who has made his home in Rangoon and its Vice Chairman is Sai Saung Si, former elected representative of Kyaukme constituency No#2 in 1990.
The party’s aim is to pave the way for the people in Shan State to have more choices and to represent them in working for their rights and to protect them. In addition, the party will also comply with the principles of the 2008 constitution, according to its Chairman.
“We are going to contest peacefully in accordance with the constitution. We don’t oppose any party and organizations because we regard all as friends, not enemies,” Sai Ai Pao told SHAN in April.
The party plans to contest in 40 out of 55 townships in Shan State, and other than these, it is going to contest in other states and divisions: Kachin and Karenni states and Rangoon, Mandalay, Pegu and Sagaing divisions where most Shan residents live. In Burma, Shan has the second biggest population after the Burman.
The party is already known by the local people in Shan State North as Kyar Phyu Party (White Tiger Party).
Apart from the SNDP, another party called the Northern Shan State Progressive Party (Northern-SSPP) led by Chan Khaw, is also expected to be contesting in Shan State North. It applied for registration on 23 April. It's headquarter is in Lashio, the capital town of Shan State North. But it is yet to be known whether its application will be approved.
At present, the SNDP has reportedly selected two candidates for Muse and one for Namkham townships, northern Shan State. The two from Muse are Sai Mawk Kham Soi (aka) Sai Phoe Aung and Sai Phoe Myat, both former chairmen of Muse Shan Literature and Culture Association (Muse-SLCA). The candidate in Namkham is Sai Ohn Kyaw, a veterinary surgeon, according to local residents in Muse. “They are yet to start their campaign.”
According to reports from the junta, Shan State East’s Pongpakhem sub township of Mongton Township, opposite Chiangmai, alone will have 23 polling booths, according to sources from the Thai-Burma border.
Security service for each polling station will be three tiered: the first by the Election Commission and Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC), the second by the police, Red Cross and fire brigade and the last by militia units and the Burmese Army.
At the same time, local businessmen are also being urged by the junta to become members of its Union Solidarity Development Party (USDP).
In April it had also instructed both regional and divisional level commands to carry out a census and compile lists of eligible voters in their respective areas, said a source close to junta officials on the Thai border.
