Union Solidarity and Development Party

Union Solidarity and Development Party
ပြည်ထောင်စုကြံ့ခိုင်ရေးနှင့်ဖွံ့ဖြိုးရေးပါတီ
Chairman Thein Sein
Vice-Chairman Htay Oo
Vice-Chairman Tin Naing Thein
Vice-Chairman Aye Myint
Founded 2 June 2010 (2010-06-02)
Headquarters Dekkhinathiri Township, Naypyidaw
Ideology Nationalism
National liberalism
Political position Centre-right[1]
Colours Green
Seats in the House of Nationalities
11 / 224
Seats in the House of Representatives
30 / 440
Seats in the State and Regional Hluttaws
73 / 850
Ethnic Affairs Ministers
2 / 29
Party flag
Website
www.usdp.org.mm

The Union Solidarity and Development Party (Burmese: ပြည်ထောင်စုကြံ့ခိုင်ရေးနှင့်ဖွံ့ဖြိုးရေးပါတီ), which was registered on 2 June 2010 by the Union Election Commission,currently standing as a opposition political party, is the successor to the Burmese government's mass organisation, the Union Solidarity and Development Association. It is headed by former Burmese President Thein Sein and its headquarters are in Naypyidaw's Dekkhinathiri Township.[1] According to the 2008 Constitution, government officials/civil servants, including government ministers like Thein Sein, are not allowed to form political parties, although the Electoral Commission has approved the party nonetheless.[2]

During the 2010 election, USDP recruited party members by offering low-interest loans, particularly in central Burma and Rakhine State.[3]

In the 2010 general election, the USDP won 883 seats out of 1154 total seats, 259 seats of 325 seats from Pyithu Hluttaw, 129 seats of 168 seats from Amyotha Hluttaw and 495 seats of 661 seats from Region and State Hluttaw (holding the majority in all, except the Rakhine State Hluttaw).[4]

On 4 March 2011, two USDP MPs from Bago Region, Ant Gyi, a Pyithu Hluttaw MP representing Thanatpin Township, and Cho Nwe Oo, representing Constituency 7 (Oktwin and Htantabin Townships) were disqualified by the Union Electoral Commission for failing to meet the constitutional requirements for citizenship (as both have a parent who are not Burmese citizens).[5]

All national cabinet members appointed from the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw are USDP politicians who resigned their parliamentary posts, with the exception of ministers appointed from military ranks and three civilian-led ministries.[6]

Leadership

On 2 May 2011, Thura Shwe Mann assumed the office as temporary chairman of USDP. Htay Oo as deputy chairman, Aung Thaung and Thein Zaw as Secretary 1 and 2. Maung Oo was appointed as Disciplinary Official of the USDP. Former Yangon Mayor Aung Thein Lin was appointed to lead the USDP's Yangon branch.[7]

On 16 October 2012, Thein Sein was re-elected as the chairman of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) at the USDP's first party conference in Naypyidaw.[8] This is in direct contradiction to the 2008 Constitution of Burma, which states:[9]

“ If the President or the Vice-Presidents are members of a political party, they shall not take part in its party activities during their term of office from the day of their election. ”

As of October 2012, USDP's leadership was reorganised to form a 44-member Central Executive Committee, including:[8]

Because of mounting criticism over his dual role, Thein Sein handed over the chairman position of party to Shwe Mann on 1 May 2013.[10][11][12]

On 13 August 2015 it was reported that chairman Shwe Mann and general secretary Maung Maung Thein had been removed from their positions.[13][14]

Election results

House of Nationalities (Amyotha Hluttaw)

Election Total seats won Total votes Share of votes Outcome of election Note Election leader
2010
129 / 224
 — — Increase 129 Majority government Thein Sein
2012
124 / 224
 — — Decrease 5 Majority government Thein Sein
2015
11 / 224
 — — Decrease 112 Opposition Thein Sein

House of Representatives (Pyithu Hluttaw)

Election Total seats won Total votes Share of votes Outcome of election Note Election leader
2010
259 / 440
 11,858,125 56.8% Increase 259 Majority government Thein Sein
2012
222 / 440
 — — Decrease 37 Majority government Thein Sein
2015
29 / 440
 6,341,920 28.3% Decrease 183 Opposition Thein Sein

References

  1. 1 2 "Union Solidarity Development Association/ Party". Mizzima News. Archived from the original on 25 November 2010.
  2. ↑ "USDP Illegal under Constitution". The Irrawaddy. 17 May 2010.
  3. ↑ "Join the USDP Party, Get a Low-interest Loan". The Irrawaddy. 9 August 2010.
  4. ↑ "Results - 2010 Election Watch". ALTSEAN Burma.
  5. ↑ Shwe Yinn Mar Oo; Soe Than Lynn (7 March 2011). "Two USDP MPs sacked from national parliaments". Myanmar Times. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  6. ↑ "By-Elections Special". Alternative Asean Network on Burma. 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  7. ↑ "Lower House speaker Thura Shwe Mann appointed USDP chairman". Mizzima News. 10 May 2011.
  8. 1 2 Wang Yuanyuan (16 October 2012). "President U Thein Sein re-elected as Myanmar's ruling party leader". Xinhua News Agency. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  9. ↑ "Constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar" (PDF). Government of Myanmar. 2008. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  10. ↑ "Thein Sein resigns as chairman of Burma’s ruling party". DVB News. 2 May 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  11. ↑ Win Ko Ko Latt (6 May 2013). "Speaker confirmed as new USDP chairman". The Myanmar Times. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  12. ↑ WENG, LAWI (3 May 2013). "Thein Sein Still a USDP Leader, May Be Party’s 2015 Presidential Pick: Lawmaker". The irrawaddy. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  13. ↑ http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/08/13/myanmar-politics-secretarygeneral-idINKCN0QI0A420150813
  14. ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/13/burmese-forces-surround-ruling-party-headquarters-and-confine-mps-report

External links

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