The newly floated Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) led by Prime Minister Thein Sein is on a recruiting drive in Shan State North and Shan State East using the power of its parent organization the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), border sources said.

All village and village tract headmen in Shan State North’s Namkham Township and Kengtung, Shan State East are being pressured by local ruling military junta officials and USDA officials to collect household lists starting early this month.

Namkham alone has to provide at least 5,000 members for the party, said a Namkham USDA member.  

Namkham Township is homeland to ethnic nationalities such as Lisu, Shan, Palaung and Kachin as well as people of different religions especially Christians and Buddhists.

The township chairman ordered on 19 May that each quarter must send 50 members for the party, he said and added “They started collecting names yesterday.”

Likewise, in Shan State East’s Kengtung Township, every youth above 15 years of age must apply for membership. If not they will be blacklisted for high treason [Naing Ngan Taw Pone Kan Thu], said a member of the USDA in Kengtung.

Local USDA officials are now conducting census and collecting family lists in areas all around the town including the outskirts, he said.

The Chairman of the Kengtung USDA is Sai Long Hseng Leng. He is also a general secretary of Kengtung Tai Khun Literature Association.

“The USDA says we should become PM Thein Sein’s party members because he had developed our town and built pagodas for us,” a woman resident said. “But we don’t see any development in our town.”

Prime Thein Sein with 20 other senior officials retired from their military posts in late April and came to lead the USDP. The USDP was directly formed from the state backed organization, the USDA. It applied for party registration to the Union Election Commission on 29 April.

It is expected to contest from all constituencies in Burma in the forthcoming election later this year.