USDA aims to recruit more students and residents in Mudon Township

November 9, 2009

HURFOM, MUDON: On November 5th, Mon State’s Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) members arrived in Mudon Township to hold a meeting with 20 key area USDA members, Mon youth, and members of the Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC). At the meeting area USDA members were ordered to recruit more then 200 residents in each village to become members of the USDA in Mudon Township.

The USDA members that arrived in Mudon Township to head the meeting included former Malawmyine University professor U San Thit, the Mawlamyine Executive committee [MEC] Join secretary U Then Lwin, MEC member U Zaw Moe Lwin and others high ranking USDA members.

In the meeting U San Thit ordered Mudon township USDA organizers to take responsibility to organize more member in the town surrounding villages. In each village organizers are expected to persuade educated residents and students who study in middle and high school to join and participate in the USDA. If organized to join, members would be expected to vote for USDA candidates in the coming 2010 election.

According to one of Kamawet villager, who is member of the Kamawet USDA, “In the meeting, MEC member U Zaw Moe Lwin explained that the reasons that they are collecting new members for the USDA is to focus on the 2010 election. Before the coming election they intend to collect students and educated residents to involve in their activities. In addition, they also mention that to coming up with a real democratic system they need the help of all residents to be involved in their activities. It’s clear that they are collecting 200 more people to get them involved in their preparation for an election role.

“They didn’t distinguish between either big or small village [for organizing], they just mentioned that ever village in Mudon Township has to organize more 200 residents to become USDA members,” the Kamawet villager continued. “For example, in our village, 4 small villages pretended to be one huge village, but for our village they require more then 800 members to be organized. I estimated it’s exactly the same amount with the number of young people in our village and all students who were attending high school in village. In the future all youth in our area will have been supported to be USDA members.”

“Most of the student are already USDA members. They already have been given USDA registration form in the school. They will also use students to organize rural residents to work for their election,” a middle school teacher from Mudon town commented, “We can prove this because they have also used students to fill out forms and have allowed them to organize rural and illiterate residents in the 2008 referendum.”

According to an article from the Independent Mon News Agency (IMNA) published on September 5th, over the last two months unidentified USDA members have been holding meetings in Mudon Township and have been pressuring members to organize young people who are not yet members, or who have finished grade 10th and graduated, to join.

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News