Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein and his government colleagues who formed the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) on Thursday may be in violation of junta election laws stating that persons forming a political party may not hold government positions.
Article 4 of the Political Party Registration Law says that a person who forms a political party must not hold a government position.
State-run radio and television reported on Thursday that the USDP had been organized by 27 government officials, including Prime Minister Thein Sein and Rangoon mayor Aung Thein Lin, and had registered with the Union Election Commission (UEC).
On Monday, Burma's military establishment ordered Thein Sein, Aung Thein Lin and 20 other senior officials to retire from their military positions.
On Friday, however, state-run newspapers still described Thein Sein and the others forming the USDP as government officials, and their were no reports of resignations from government positions by any USDP official.
Aye Lwin, the chairman of the Union of Myanmar Federation of National Politics, one of 25 political parties currently registered and one of 12 currently approved by the UEC, spoke about the apparent violation of the junta's election laws by the junta-backed USDP.
“When we first registered at the election commission, we had to sign a document saying we were not holding a position in government. I think Thein Shein and the other government officials who formed the USDP also had to sign this document,” said Aye Lwin.
“The State Peace and Development Council published the election laws, so the USDP officials would know the laws well at the time they registered. And they would certainly know that the position of prime minister is a government position,” he said.
The junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), founded in 1993 as a social organization, claims to have a membership of about 24 million, including students, civil servants and military personnel. Although it claims to be apolitical, the USDA has long been actively involved in implementing the ruling regime’s policies.
Thu Wai, the chairman of the Democratic Party (Myanmar), criticized the decision of government officials to form a political party closely linked with the USDA.
“It is not right to use the USDA name. The minister of home affairs once said that the USDA will be a social organization. If it transforms into a political party, all its members have to quit the organization. I intend to discuss this with the election commission.”
Minister of Home Affairs Maj-Gen Maung Oo did, however, signal the regime’s plans for the USDA when he said in 2002 that the organization must be able to play a role in politics alongside other political parties.
Win Tin, one of the leaders of the National League for Democracy, which has announced it will not register for the election, says the decision of Thein Sein and the other generals to form the USDP has altered the political landscape.
He told the Irrawaddy on Friday, “I expected that the army would only take a 25 percent position in parliament, in accordance with the 2008 constitution. But the situation is now different from what I expected. The military-led USDP is going to contest the election, which means they intend to transform the army into a political party.”
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