The junta-appointed Union Election Commission on Monday dissolved the Shan State Kokang Democratic Party (SSKPD), the major rival of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in Kokang Self-Administered Zone.
The commission said it had approved the Kokang party’s registration in May, but the party failed to recruit at least 1,000 members within 90 days of registration as required by the Political Parties Registration Law.
The Political Parties Registration Law, promulgated by the regime in January, made it mandatory for political parties to re-register or face dissolution. The law effectively dissolves existing political parties in favor of the USDP, the military’s proxy, political observers say.
Following a large-scale offensive by the Brotherhood Alliance in northern Shan State, the regime declared martial law in Kokang’s capital, Laukkai, with Brigadier-General Tun Tun Myint of the Myanmar military taking charge of the town.
The SSKDP traces its roots to the pro-democracy uprising in 1988. It won its first constituency in Kunlong Township in the 1990 general election.
Together with popular pro-democracy parties the National League for Democracy (NLD) and the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, the SSKDP boycotted the 2010 general election organized by the regime led by dictator Than Shwe. The party re-registered in 2012 and contested the 2015 and 2020 general elections in Kokang where the NLD chose not to field candidates. It was the main rival of the USDP.
The SSKDP lost to the USDP in the 2020 election. The USDP’s candidates were Kokang administrators, their family members and leading Kokang businessmen. All were close to the military.
Before the 2020 election, SSKDP chairman Antony Su told The Irrawaddy that he would be more than happy if the election was free and fair.
Among the USDP candidates that defeated the SSKDP in 2020 were: Bai Yingcang, the son of Bai Suocheng who was appointed head of Kokang Self-Administered Zone (SAZ) by the Than Shwe regime in 2009; Liu Dehong, son of Kokang Border Guard Force leader Liu Guixiu; prominent businessman Maung Maung who is currently being detained in China; retired Kokang Border Guard Force leader Wei Shan; former Kokang SAZ head Zhao Dechang; former Lt-General Aung Than Htut; and Myint Shwe (also known as Li Zhenfu) who was recently sacked as head of the Kokang SAZ.
Bai Yincang and Maung Maung are the recipients of honorary titles conferred by junta boss Min Aung Hlaing last year,
The Union Election Commission has not yet taken action against the USDP for allowing a foreign national to run in an election. Former USDP lawmaker leading Ming Xuechang was a Chinese citizen, not ethnic Kokang Chinese. He committed suicide after he was recently arrested by the regime for his alleged involvement in online scams. He was about to be handed over to China.
The Political Parties Registration Law bars political parties from recruiting members who are foreign nationals or have acquired foreign citizenship. Electoral laws also ban foreign nationals and those who have obtained foreign citizenship from running in an election or being elected to any legislature.
