While many other political parties planning to run for election in Shan State in November have announced their list of candidates, the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP) has yet to do so.

The National League for Democracy, Union Solidarity and Development Party, Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, Pa-O National Organization, Union Pa-O National Organization, and the Ta’ang National Party shared their candidate lists for Shan State in early August.  

“We are still checking the list of our electoral candidates,” SNDP chair Sai Aik Pao told SHAN. “If we announce our electoral candidates before we finish checking them, it could create disagreements. We do not need to rush to announce our list of candidates.”

He added that the party plans to register more than 100 candidates and that they will run in 32 townships in Shan State, four townships in Kachin State, one in Mandalay, and for two ethnic affairs ministerial posts.

“The important thing is to win in the election,” Sai Aik Pao said.

In a previous interview with SHAN, the SNDP chair said that he expects his party to form the Shan State government after winning more than 30 seats later this year. The priorities of their government would be the development of education, social services, the economy and transportation, Sai Aik Pao said.

The SNDP is a member of a political alliance with 11 Shan State-based ethnic political parties. It is with these parties that the SNDP hopes to form a coalition government in Shan State.

The SNDP won one seat in the Shan State parliament in the 2015 general election.