Union Solidarity and Development Party wins three seats in Karen State during first phase of voting

The military-proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won three seats up for grabs in the Karen State capital Hpa-An, as well as in Myawaddy and Thandaunggyi townships for the Pyithu Hluttaw, or lower house parliament, during the first phase of voting on Dec. 28.

“We have to accept the results whether we like it or not,” Mahn Aung Pyi Soe, the Karen National Democratic Party (KNDP) chairperson, told DVB. The KNDP was established in 2017 but it has yet to win any seats in parliament.

Sources from Union Election Commission (UEC) polling stations told DVB that the USDP also won two seats during advanced voting Dec. 18-27 in Hpa-An and Myawaddy, located 82 miles (132 km) east of Hpa-An.

“The Karen parties have little chance of winning if they compete independently and don’t work together,” a political analyst in Myanmar told DVB on the condition of anonymity.

The Karen Information Center (KIC) reported that the USDP won the seat for Thandaunggyi, located 245 miles (394 km) north of Hpa-An, due to the fact that this is where the Bayintnaung (Army) Combat Training School is located.