Mai Rupa, Jan 5
In the first phase of the junta-organized election on December 28, the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) reportedly secured seats in all three townships where voting was held in northern Shan State.
The junta’s election commission released the list of winners for Pyithu Hluttaw (Lower House) seats on January 4, confirming that the USDP swept Lashio, Muse, and Nawnghkio townships in northern Shan State, where elections were held.
Local residents in northern Shan said the USDP’s victory was largely due to the absence of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) and the National League for Democracy (NLD)—both of which enjoy widespread public support but refused to participate in the junta-led polls.
A Lashio resident told Shwe Phee Myay that while the NLD and SNLD dominated Pyithu Hluttaw, Amyotha Hlttaw, and State Parliament seats in the 2020 election, the USDP faced no real competition in 2025 because those major parties did not run.
“Right now, only the ‘White Tiger’ party (Shan and Nationalities Development Party – SNDP) is showing up in Shan State, and no Shan people are interested in them. We aren’t interested ourselves and we aren’t voting. That’s why the USDP is bound to win. The only ones who can actually compete with them are the NLD and the ‘Tiger Head’ (SNLD),” a local resident explained.
In Nawnghkio Township, the first phase of the election was reportedly held in both urban areas and village tracts. In Lashio and Muse, however, voting was restricted to the urban wards.
The junta regime conducted this first phase of the election across 102 townships, with the junta-backed USDP emerging victorious in the vast majority of them.
According to figures released by the junta’s election commission, the USDP secured 116 Pyithu Hluttaw seats across 102 townships in the first phase of the election, with many candidates reportedly winning uncontested.
The junta’s regime is now preparing to conduct the second phase of the election on January 11 in 100 townships, which reportedly includes Tangyan and Mongyai in northern Shan State.
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Translated by #KLT
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