Friday, 18 June 2010 17:04 Salai Han Thar San
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Senior General Than Shwe recently told regional military commanders at their quarterly meeting to help the Union Solidarity and Development Party win the forthcoming election, according to the sources close to the military.
The meeting with top-ranking military officers was held late last month at the office of the army commander in chief in the Burmese capital Naypyidaw at which Than Shwe issued the directive to aid the party led by Prime Minister Thein Sein.
“He also discussed … the [opposition] National League for Democracy’s attitude to the forthcoming election, and power cuts and water shortages”, a source close to the military said, refusing to disclose details.
State Peace and Development Council members, regional military commanders and cabinet ministers attended.
An analyst on the Burmese military, Aung Kyaw Zaw, who lives on the China-Burma border, corroborated the line that the top junta leader was ordering officers to give a boost to the USDP, formed by members of the junta’s ultra-nationalist organisation, the Union Solidarity and Development Association. He said: “I heard that the Senior General had instructed the regional military commanders to help USDP”.
Other issues discussed were the frequent power cuts and widespread water shortages across the nation despite an abundance of dams and some hydropower projects, a source close to the military in Naypyidaw said, without describing any decisions or plans of action.
Moreover, the officers discussed the issue regarding the decision of the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi, that it would not contest in this year’s elections, but would carry out social work.
The quarterly meeting is usually a forum at which political, economic and military issues are discussed, regional military commanders present reports on developments in their sectors and take directives from their superiors. They are then required to hold divisional meetings and supervise the chairmen of district and township peace and development councils in their regions.
The headquarters of the USDP is in Dakkhina Thiri Township, Naypyidaw. It formally became a political party on June 9.
Political analyst Aung Thu Nyein, based in Thailand, said the polls this year were likely to be one-sided as the junta had denied the people a choice in the May 2008 referendum, especially through vote-rigging.
“They shaped the 2008 referendum according to their preferences. They may conduct the upcoming elections in the same way”, he said.
In the run-up to the referendum, junta leaders at the quarterly meetings told officers to make sure chairmen of district and township development councils changed civilian ballots from “no” votes to “yes” to approve the 2008 Constitution, a former military officer said.
Friday, June 18, 2010
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