Ong Mon, Khatter Non : The Thanphyuzayart Township division of the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) called meetings with village headmen all over the township last week, in preparation the for the launch of a 2 month long township-wide campaign to organize its members for the 2010 elections.
Insiders confirm that similar USDA campaigns have already been spearheaded in Mudon Township and Moulmein City.
“Right now, they [the USDA] have not called on the villagers [who are members of the USDA] yet. They just called meetings with the village headmen, and ordered them to organize [USDA card-carrying] villagers. They will come and organize among the villagers themselves over the next two months” a Thanphyuzayart Township village headman who attended the USDA meeting in his village told IMNA.
A source who attended a meeting in Thanphyuzayart Township reported to IMNA that the Thanphyuzayart USDA officers pledged that voting for the USDA in the upcoming 2010 elections would be highly beneficial to the people; these officers reportedly claimed that by gaining a chair in parliament, the USDA could promote community development and push for reparation of roads and establishment of schools.
The USDA officers also revealed that the organization plans to change its name in March of this year, as a means of promoting its public image during the election process. The USDA fell out of favor with the Burmese public in 2003 after the “Depayin Massacre”, when USDA group members attacked Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her party while the political figure was on tour; sources speculate that the USDA believes that a name change will allow the group to divorce itself from the event.
According to a second village headman, the Thanphyuzayart USDA plans recruit enough members to hit a 50 member minimum in each village and township quarter in Thanphyuzayart Township.
“Also, the USDA is currently building discount stores for retired members of the military, and is giving CDMA phones to the Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare Association (MMCWA) for their fund.” A political observer from Moulmein informed IMNA.
According to this observer, a wide variety of public organizations, like the USDA and the MMCWA are in actuality organized by, and support, the government. If these groups establish themselves in Burma’s villages, and actively recruit members from these villages, eventually entire villages will support the Burmese government by proxy. This source told IMNA that such a development could prove to be highly problematic for ethnic minority parties in Burma, as being members of these government-organized public groups could prevent ethnic minorities from representing themselves.
High school students frequently join the USDA in order to score job connections; many believe that possessing USDA member documents will ease their introduction into the workforce after graduation. Unfortunately, USDA membership does not always ensure employment, and many educators feel that their students are being misled.
“More students are entering the USDA, because they hear that any student who is a member of the USDA has more job opportunities than other students who are not USDA members. That is why they are interested in being USDA members. But there is nothing special for the students who are USDA members,” a high school teacher from Thanphyuzayart told IMNA.
