Burma's pro-government Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) is reportedly conducting its own census in an apparent effort to influence the result of the general election.
The development, reported in various Burmese townships, was described as "strange and unheard of in any electoral process in the world" by Bidhayak Das, an international observer with the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL).
ANFREL, established in 1997, is a regional network of civil society organizations that strives to promote and support democratization at national and regional levels in Asia.
Bidhayak, also a freelance political columnist, said in an email to The Irrawaddy: “It is the duty of the Election Commission to do anything with collecting census or family lists for advance voting. Political parties or any other groups, even governmental agencies other than the Election Commission, are not allowed by law to do this job.
“Collecting votes by a political party certainly does not augur well for paving the way for free and fair elections. These allegations must be verified and if found true then should be brought to the notice of the Election Commission.”
The USDP was formed by Prime Minister Thein Sein and 26 other ministers on April 29 after the dissolution of the pro-government mass civil society the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA). All USDA property passed into the possession of the USDP, which successfully registered as a political party on June 8.
“The conversion of the USDA to USDP is not clear," said Bidhayak. "There has to be a process in such a transfer and it should be made public.
"Does the USDA cease to exist and will the USDP use the same administrative structure as the former or will it have a separate structure? In fact structural changes have to be notified during the process of changeover from one formation to the other.”
The military junta organized the USDA as a social organization in 1993, with junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe as its principal patron. Most government staff and students were forced to become members of association, which claimed to have 24 million members nationwide.
A USDP official said the party has at least 8 million members.
Thein Sein has been meeting regularly recently in Naypyidaw with leading officials of the USDP. Party sources said they discussed election strategy.
In one Burmese township, Tachilek, residents said the purpose of the census appeared to be to facilitate advance voting.
One Tachileik resident said family details were being collected and then the listed individuals were told "we don’t need to vote in the coming election.”
Advance voting was rife in the 2008 referendum, in which authorities gathered lists of household members and checked them as in favor of the constitution.
Rangoon based Aung Thet Wine contributed to this article.
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