The Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP), second winning party in Shan State, better known as the White Tiger party, was told by Union Election Commission (UEC) to move its conference venue to a more centrally located area, according to party members.

Earlier, the party had planned to rent the meeting hall at Shan Literature and Cultural Association building in Taunggyi, capital of Shan State.

But the Union Election Commission reportedly told that the conference should be held in a location more easily reachable for members from Kachin State, Sagaing and Mandalay divisions.

“We then chose to hold the meeting in Pyin Oo Lwin (42 miles east of Mandalay) because it located at the center with the Shan State in the east, Kachin State in the north and Sagaing in the west,” explained an executive member.

The meeting will be held for 5 days from 11 to 15 December. The first two days 11-12 December will be CEC meeting and the rest will be meeting with members from all over the country.

Party members told SHAN earlier that the party is considering drafting a human resources bill to bring before the first legislature in 22 years and it will further propose ethnic nationalities’ cultural and literary activities to be allowed conduct freely.

Dr. Sai Kyaw Ohn, Chairman of Namkham township party branch and representative-elect said their members in Namkham will promote capacity of the younger generation. It is therefore planning to form “New Generation Association” that will be responsible for conducting awareness trainings for local youth.

“Youth have become more and more addicted to drugs because our education is poor and there are few jobs for them even though many of them have graduated. Apart from that, our people’s political awareness is low therefore they are still afraid to air their grievances,” Dr. Sai Kyaw Ohn said.

Besides forming the association for the youth, it is also planning to form women affairs, farmer affairs and development affairs organizations as well, he added.

Meanwhile, the Shan State that has been divided into three administrative parts: Northern, Southern and Eastern will be combined together as one under the new government, according to an informed source from Naypyitaw.

The SNDP contested in Shan, Kachin, Sagaing and Mandalay and won 57 seats. 7 of the 15 founding members were among those elected.