Abbreviation USDP Secretary-General Thet Naing Win Ideology Nationalism Chairperson Than Htay Founded 2 June 2010 | Chairman Than Htay Vice-Chairman Myat Hein Colours Green Founder Thein Sein Political position Centre-right politics | |
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Headquarters Dekkhinathiri Township, Myanmar (Burma), Naypyidaw, Myanmar (Burma) | ||
The Union Solidarity and Development Party (Burmese: ပြည်ထောင်စုကြံ့ခိုင်ရေးနှင့်ဖွံ့ဖြိုးရေးပါတီ; abbreviated USDP), which was registered on 2 June 2010 by the Union Election Commission, currently standing as an opposition political party, is the successor to the Burmese government's mass organisation, the Union Solidarity and Development Association. It was headed by President Thein Sein until 2013, and its headquarters are in Naypyidaw's Dekkhinathiri Township. According to the 2008 Constitution, government officials and civil servants, including government ministers like Thein Sein, are not allowed to form political parties, although the Electoral Commission approved the party nonetheless.
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During the 2010 election, USDP recruited party members by offering low-interest loans, particularly in central Burma and Rakhine State.
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).
Union solidarity and development party campaign near kawmhu
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 2012, USDP's leadership was reorganised to form a 44-member Central Executive Committee, including:
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.