Representatives from the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) were selected as the speaker and deputy speaker of the Shan State parliament on Monday.

Sai Lone Seng of the USDP, representing constituency one in Keng Tung Township, was chosen as the new speaker. The deputy speaker appointed was Sao Aung Myat, the current Shan State parliament chief minister who represents constituency one in Ywar Ngan Township.  The speaker chairman is Lt. Gen. Aung Than Htut who won the state assembly seat in constituency one in Laokhai Township.

Nang San San Aye, a new Shan State parliamentarian from the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), told SHAN that the party had competed for the seats but lost to the USDP.

“We (SNLD party) competed for all three seats; chairman, speaker and deputy speaker,” she said. “We could not win because the votes from NLD (National League for Democracy) and SNLD together are still only half of what USDP has.”

She said there are 46 representatives from NLD and SNLD all together, but the representatives from USDP, the military and other parties totalled 88 votes.

U Soe Nyunt of the NLD in Kalaw Township said that even though the vote process was democratic, it was impossible to win the USDP because they dominate the parliament.

“We knew that we could not win, but we just wanted to know what the military representatives were thinking,” he said. “We want to know whether there is any change or not.”

136 representatives attended Monday’s session including 102 newly elected representatives, including 34 from the military. Others came from the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), National League for Democracy (NLD), Ta’ang National Party (TNP), Pa-O National Organization (PNO), Lahu National Development Party (LNDP), Wa Democratic Party (WDP), Lisu National Development Party (LNDP), Kokang Democracy and Unity Party (KDUP), Wa National Unity Party (WNUP), Akha National Development Party (ANDP), and some independent of affiliation.

BY SAI AW / Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN)