Sacked USDP members will not appeal to Election Commission

NAY PYI TAW — Former members of the Union Solidarity and Development Party said they would continue to seek a reversal of their April expulsion, but would not raise a legal complaint for fear of hurting the military-aligned party’s image.

Those expelled from the USDP, who had been dismissed from their leadership positions within the party last August for their alignment with former party chairman Thura U Shwe Mann, told a Monday press conference in Nay Pyi Taw’s Thingaha Hotel that they had petitioned the party’s current leadership for readmission four times.

Under the law governing political parties, complaints against a party violating its own rules can be brought to the Union Election Commission. U Zaw Myint Pe, who was removed from the USDP’s central executive committee last year, said that those kicked out of the party had no plans to lodge a format complaint.

“We don’t want to damage the party’s image,” he said on Monday. “We know the election commission can solve the problem. The reason why we have not complained the commission is that we are patiently watching whether the senior leaders of the party have a change of heart.”

The August 2015 party purge was the culmination of a factional battle between Shwe Mann, at the time the Union Parliament speaker, and former President U Thein Sein, apparently as a result of the former’s close working relationship with State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Support more independent journalism like this. Sign up to be a Frontier member.

Shwe Mann’s allies on the central executive committee were replaced with Thein Sein loyalists in a contentious late night vote at the party’s headquarters in Nay Pyi Taw overseen by police officers called in to block the buildings’ exits.

More stories

Latest Issue

Stories in this issue
Myanmar enters 2021 with more friends than foes
The early delivery of vaccines is one of the many boons of the country’s geopolitics, but to really take advantage, Myanmar must bury the legacy of its isolationist past.
Will the Kayin BGF go quietly?
The Kayin State Border Guard Force has come under intense pressure from the Tatmadaw over its extensive, controversial business interests and there’s concern the ultimatum could trigger fresh hostilities in one of the country’s most war-torn areas.

Support our independent journalism and get exclusive behind-the-scenes content and analysis

Stay on top of Myanmar current affairs with our Daily Briefing and Media Monitor newsletters.

Sign up for our Frontier Fridays newsletter. It’s a free weekly round-up featuring the most important events shaping Myanmar