USDP rules Shan State Parliament
Representatives from the Union
Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) were selected as the speaker and deputy
speaker of the Shan State parliament on Monday.
Sai Lone Seng of the USDP, representing
constituency one in Keng Tung Township, was chosen as the new speaker. The
deputy speaker appointed was Sao Aung Myat, the current Shan State parliament chief
minister who represents constituency one in Ywar Ngan Township. The speaker chairman is Lt. Gen. Aung Than
Htut who won the state assembly seat in constituency
one in Laokhai Township.
Nang San San Aye, a new Shan
State parliamentarian from the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD),
told SHAN that the party had competed for the seats but lost to the USDP.
“We (SNLD party) competed for
all three seats; chairman, speaker and deputy speaker,” she said. “We could not
win because the votes from NLD (National League for Democracy) and SNLD
together are still only half of what USDP has.”
She said there are 46
representatives from NLD and SNLD all together, but the representatives from
USDP, the military and other parties totalled 88 votes.
U Soe Nyunt of the NLD in Kalaw
Township said that even though the vote process was democratic, it was
impossible to win the USDP because they dominate the parliament.
“We knew that we could not win,
but we just wanted to know what the military representatives were thinking,” he
said. “We want to know whether there is any change or not.”
136 representatives attended Monday’s session
including 102 newly elected representatives, including 34 from the military.
Others came from the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), Shan
Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), National League for Democracy (NLD),
Ta’ang National Party (TNP), Pa-O National Organization (PNO), Lahu National
Development Party (LNDP), Wa Democratic Party (WDP), Lisu National Development
Party (LNDP), Kokang Democracy and Unity Party (KDUP), Wa National Unity Party
(WNUP), Akha National Development Party (ANDP), and some independent of
affiliation.
BY SAI AW / Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN)
Tags: News, Politics
