Week 21: 2010 Election Watch (27 July – 2 August)

Developments

• The SPDC Election Commission told four leaders of the National Democratic Force that they must seek pardons for their past political activities if they want to participate in the upcoming elections. Meanwhile, about 40 plainclothes police monitored the opening of the National Democratic Force headquarters in Rangoon.
• Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) organizers forcibly recruited new party members by going door-to-door and insisting that people sign the membership application along with taking their photographs.
• SPDC Military Intelligence personnel shadowed All Mon Region Democracy Party representatives in every Township they visited during their campaign.
• The SPDC Election Commission approved the registration of the pro-junta Unity and Democracy Party of Kachin State. To date, the Election Commission has approved the registration of 40 parties out of the 46 that applied to contest the polls.

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Reactions

Parties continued to criticize the USDP’s privileged status:

• National Democratic Force leader Khin Maung Swe said that USDP Chairman and SPDC PM Thein Sein should “avoid using government property and follow the election laws like other political parties.”
• Union Democratic Party Chairman Phyo Min Thein called the use of Union Solidarity and Development Association funds by the USDP “unjust” and said that he would file a complaint with the SPDC Election Commission.
• All Mon Region Democratic Party Chairman Naing Ngwe Thein said that the USDP “[…] alone has freedom to conduct electoral campaigns […] anywhere.”

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This post is in: 2010 Elections