KSPP Finalizes Future Plan Ahead of Burma’s General Election
By NETWORK MEDIA GROUP (NMG)
Friday, March 6, 2020
In its inaugural conference held this week in the Kachin State capital of Myitkyina, the Kachin State People’s Party (KSPP) wrote up its future plan concerning its participation in Burma’s general election this year.
The conference, which took place from March 3-4, decided on endeavors from party funding to campaign committee formation.
“We discussed party policy, our political stances, gender, and the party’s rules and regulations,” Doi Bu, vice chairperson of the KSPP, told NMG. “We also drafted the future plan of our party. We approved the future plan after our representatives at the conference agreed to it.”
Tin Oo, a party member from Mogaung Township, said that he is “very satisfied” with the plan, and that it reflects “the desires of all of us” in the party.
The plan focuses on increasing the participation of women and youth in party activities, erecting signboards for the KSPP in various villages and wards, issuing party membership cards, and selecting a spokesperson. It also involves a campaign strategy committee.
There were also changes to the party’s leadership, with Doi Bu serving as the new vice chairperson 1, replacing Khet Htein Nan, the previous vice chair. There is also a new position—vice chairperson 4, which is held by Bawk Ja.
The party chair remains Dr. Manam Tu Ja, who told NMG that the KSPP plans to contest the 2020 election in all 18 townships in Kachin State.
“We are going to run in all constituencies in Kachin State in the coming general elections, because our party is based in Kachin State,” he explained. “We will only run in Kachin State. We won’t run outside of Kachin State,” he added.
This means the KSPP will put forward 36 candidates for the state parliament, 12 for the Upper House, and 18 for the Lower House.
“I expect our KSPP will win seats in the coming 2020 general elections,” new vice chair 4 Bawk Ja told NMG. “Youth are actively participating in our party… I am so proud of our youths. I do believe if youth participate in the party’s activities, our party will succeed,” she said.
While KSPP is a merger of other Kachin political parties, KSPP vice chair 2 Gumgrawng Awng Hkam said that the party is not currently forming any alliances with other existing parties.
“We will form alliances with other political parties after the general election. We will cooperate with state-based political parties,” he explained.
More than 300 representatives from 18 townships in Kachin State attended the two-day KSPP conference.
