Junta Exploits Administrative Power to Back USDP, Amid Evidence of Coercion and Manipulation

November 5, 2025

HURFOM: Evidence of coercion and manipulation is emerging in Mon State, showing how the Junta is using its control over local administrative structures to secure support for the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) ahead of the planned elections.

According to information collected by HURFOM field monitors, USDP members are not campaigning on a level playing field. Instead, they are working hand in glove with junta-appointed village and ward administrators, who are calling villagers to meetings, urging them to vote for USDP candidates, and, in some cases, checking household lists to see who is supportive. This is happening even though the Junta’s own election guidelines state that parties should campaign only during the official period and do so freely and fairly.

A resident from Chaungzon Township explained how the campaign is being carried out:
“They came and said only the USDP will really work for the people of Mon State. The village administrators spoke like party people. They told us voting is our right and we must vote, and that we should vote for USDP. Because most of the administrators were appointed under the junta, they are now using that power to help the USDP, even though it breaks the rules.”

In Mawlamyine, Mudon, and Chaungzon townships, USDP supporters have also been quietly recruiting people to join their campaign teams by offering about 15,000 kyats per person per day, according to a local from Mudon who asked not to be named.

The junta-controlled election commission announced on 15 October 2025 that parties could begin official campaigning from 28 October to 26 December, a 60-day window. During this period, parties and candidates are supposed to follow the election law and refrain from using state power to influence voters. But in practice, villagers say the authorities themselves are the ones helping the USDP.

A young person from Chaungzon told HURFOM: “On paper, they say it must be free and fair. But in reality, the people in power are the first ones breaking it. Administrators are pushing USDP activities like it is their duty.”

Sources in other junta-controlled areas of Mon State, and even parts of Thaton District and Karen State, confirmed that this style of advance, authority-backed campaigning has been happening since around July 2025, well before the official start date.

In some villages in Mudon Township, during demonstrations of the new electronic voting machines organized by the election commission, USDP supporters reportedly showed up in party shirts. They told people to vote for their party. Residents viewed this as another example of blurring the line between state functions and party activities.

A political source in Mawlamyine linked the problem to how the junta has stacked local administration posts with USDP members:

“The current Mon State Chief Minister, U Aung Kyi Thein, is also the USDP chair for the state. In Chaungzon, the township USDP chair is also in the administration. So when the USDP wants to campaign, they use the administration network. That is misuse of power.”

Local people and activists are worried that if the USDP continues to use administrators, security structures, and village heads to mobilize votes, other parties will not be able to compete.

As one activist put it:

“If the election law is already being violated before the election even starts, then we cannot call it a fair election. And if the election is not fair, politics after the election will become even more unstable.”

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News