Union Solidarity and Development Party

The Union Solidarity and Development Party ( my, ပြည်ထောင်စုကြံ့ခိုင်ရေးနှင့် ဖွံ့ဖြိုးရေးပါတီ; abbr. USDP) is a political party in Myanmar, registered on 2 June 2010 by the Union Election Commission and currently standing as the largest opposition party in the bicameral Assembly of the Union. It is the successor to the formerly ruling military junta's mass organisation, the Union Solidarity and Development Association. The party was headed by President Thein Sein until 2013, and its headquarters are in Naypyidaw's Dekkhinathiri Township. It is known for its close ties with the military and most of the party officials are former military personnel. The party supported the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, as well as the military junta during the subsequent protests by the public.

In the 2010 general election, the USDP won 883 seats out of 1154 total seats, 259 seats of 325 seats from Pyithu Hluttaw, 129 seats of 168 seats from Amyotha Hluttaw and 495 seats of 661 seats from Region and State Hluttaw (holding the majority in all, except the Rakhine State Hluttaw).

On 4 March 2011, two USDP MPs from Bago Region, Ant Gyi, a Pyithu Hluttaw MP representing Thanatpin Township, and Cho Nwe Oo, representing Constituency 7 (Oktwin and Htantabin Townships) were disqualified by the Union Electoral Commission for failing to meet the constitutional requirements for citizenship (as both have a parent who are not Burmese citizens).

Following the National League for Democracy (NLD) victory in the 2020 Myanmar general election, the USDP accused the NLD of electoral fraud, formally challenged the election outcome and called for the election to be re-run. The USDP subsequently supported the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état and assumed two seats on the State Administration Council.

Leadership

On 2 May 2011, Shwe Mann assumed the office as temporary chairman of USDP. Htay Oo as deputy chairman, Aung Thaung and Thein Zaw as Secretary 1 and 2. Maung Oo was appointed as Disciplinary Official of the USDP. Former Yangon Mayor Aung Thein Lin was appointed to lead the USDP's Yangon branch.

On 16 October 2012, Thein Sein was re-elected as the chairman of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) at the USDP's first party conference in Naypyidaw. This is in direct contradiction to the 2008 Constitution of Burma, which states:

As of October 2022, USDP leadership is as follows:

* Chairman: Khin Yi
* Vice-Chairman: Myat Hein
* General Secretary: Maung Maung Thein
* Joint General Secretary: Thein Zaw
* Secretary: Khin Aung Myint
* Secretary: Thein Swe
* Secretary: Aung Ko

Because of mounting criticism over his dual role, Thein Sein handed over the position of USDP chairman to Shwe Mann on 1 May 2013.

On 13 August 2015 it was reported that chairman Shwe Mann and general secretary Maung Maung Thein had been removed from their positions.

On 12 September 2022, Than Htay resigned as the party chairman and handed over immediately to Vice Chairman Khin Yi, the latter became Acting Chairman. On 5 October 2022, Khin Yi was elected as the new Chairman and officially assumed the party chairmanship.

Election results

House of Nationalities (Amyotha Hluttaw)

House of Representatives (Pyithu Hluttaw)

References

External links

Official website of the Union Solidarity and Development Party

{{Myanma political parties

Political parties in Myanmar
2010 establishments in Myanmar
Nationalist parties in Asia
Social conservative parties
National conservative parties
Political parties established in 2010
Far-right political parties
Far-right politics in Myanmar
Internal conflict in Myanmar