Top General to Campaign for 2010 Election

By SAW YAN NAING

Brig-Gen Thein Zaw, the minister for communications posts and telegraphs, was scheduled to arrive in Myitkyina, the capital of the Kachin State in northern Burma, on Friday to launch a campaign for the 2010 general election.

Ma Grang, a resident of Myitkyina, told The Irrawaddy that during his visit Thein Zaw would urge residents to vote for the junta-backed political parties in the multi-party election in 2010.

Thein Zaw is in charge of the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) in Kachin State. The USDA, a regime-backed civic association, is expected to form two political parties—the National Prosperity Party and the National Security and Development Party—to contest the 2010 elections, according to USDA sources.

“He [Thein Zaw] will come and monitor the lobby campaign,” Ma Grang said. “He will visit local residents around Myitkyina and will ask them if they need help.”

Thein Zaw will be guided by USDA members while visiting residents in the area.

Ma Grang said that USDA members have been organizing local residents and encouraging them to show their support for the 2010 elections. Some people who demonstrate strong support will be presented with telephones, he said.

The general election is the fifth step of the junta’s “seven-step road map” to democracy.

In related matters, Aung Wa, a resident of the Sino-Burma border area, said leaders of Christian groups in Myitkyina have been summoned by local authorities and promised gifts of telephones if they support USDA candidates.

In May, USDA members played a major role in monitoring and organizing the national referendum on the state constitution.

In September 2007, USDA members also played a key role in the bloody crackdown during the civic uprising. In 2003, USDA members staged a deadly attack on Aung San Suu Kyi’s motorcade, in which about 100 people were killed.