Newly installed Union Solidarity and Development Party acting chair U Htay Oo will again contest the Pyithu Hluttaw seat of Hinthada on November 8. He tells chief political correspondent Ei Ei Toe Lwin about the party’s leadership change, its election strategy and why the public should vote USDP.

What kind of campaign can we expect from you when canvassing begins on September 8?

I don’t want to say ‘vote for me’ or ‘vote for the party’ right now because the campaign period will only start on September 8. But we have been working to fulfil the people’s practical needs for many years. That’s why I think they trust us to some extent.

What is most important for your constituents?

What I most want to do for them is create job opportunities. I think everyone will get a reasonable income if they have job. That’s why I arranged to open sewing training for young women. Now they have begun thinking for their future. The second most important thing is education.

Why do you think people will vote for the USDP?

The first one is to look at the party’s activities: whether the party just talks or really does practical things for people ... Another one is the qualifications of the party’s candidates. Candidates need to be able to fulfil people needs. They must be willing to work for the sake of the people and also have good communications skills to deal with residents. They must be moral as well. I want to say that people should vote after considering these points. People need to consider not only the party but also the qualifications of the candidates. Don’t just look at the campaign period; look at the long term and which party has worked constantly for the sake of the people.

I have heard that the August 12 raid on your party’s headquarters and changes in the leadership have created divisions among USDP members. As acting party leader, how will you try to rebuild unity?

Firstly, I’m not party chair; only President [U Thein Sein] is chair of the party. He handed over responsibility to me as co-chair while he serves as president in line with the constitution. Regarding the changes, we’ve received no complaints from members in any state or region … They all understand the current situation. Speaker [Thura U Shwe Mann] was both Speaker of parliament and also party chair. How can he manage to do both of these tasks successfully? That’s why we made changes. Before making the changes, we held a meeting with old central committee members according to the party’s constitution and discussed the need to add more talented people to build the party’s strength. At that time, some government ministers and military officials resigned to contest the election. We believed that the party would be stronger if we added these talented retired officials and finally all agreed to add them. Chairs of the state and region committees were particularly supportive of these changes. Actually, we didn’t form a new central committee but upgraded the central committee with 53 members, including 13 new ones. We are also worried about this issue creating misunderstandings with the people. In reality there is no rift between party members and nothing happened that will create disunity.

General secretary U Tin Naing Thein has said Thura U Shwe Mann remains a central committee member. However, the Speaker was not included in the central executive committee formed on August 13. What exactly is his role now?
The party has a central committee of around 300 members. The central executive committee was formed with members of the central committee. He [U Shwe Mann] is still a member of the executive committee but he will not take part in the central executive committee because he is too busy.

Some predict the party will split if Thura U Shwe Mann resigns from the USDP. Are you worried about this?

I think it is impossible. Everyone joined the party because they trusted us. We have all have been working together. Even if he [Thura U Shwe Mann] resigned [from the party], I don’t believe he would do anything to damage the party.

Thura U Shwe Mann has close relations with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Will you seek to continue this relationship, or will there be changes in relations between the USDP and NLD?

He has good relations with that party but it is not related [to the USDP]. Personally, I never use the term “opposition”; there is no opposition or ruling party in our parliament. I assume all parties are the same. Our party has been cooperating with all other parties. I will continue to keep such relations.

Fifty military officials are going to contest the election for the USDP but they have no party experience. How will you get them up to speed?

It is not true that they have no experience in politics or lack awareness about how to campaign. Actually the Tatmadaw has a military campaign committee that works for the interests of the people when they don’t need to fight. They work for the people like we do ... We also worked with them for many years.
When we decided to accept these military officials, firstly we considered whether residents know them. It is a very important point. If people didn’t know them, we didn’t choose them. We also didn’t choose officials that the people don’t like. That’s why we selected only 50 out of more than 100 [who had been nominated for selection].

How does your party get its money?
The party owns fisheries businesses. We also saved money for 20 years as we knew the [Union Solidarity and Development] Association would become a party.

You mean you saved money for the party under the military regime?

Certainly, because the association was formed under [the military regime], in 1993 to be exact. Since then we saved money but it was not related with the government. We knew we would need money when we founded the party, so we bought shares in a banking business and we get interests from that business.

People believe that retired general U Than Shwe took part in the events at the party headquarters on August 12. Can you confirm that?

No, not at all. He did not take part in this issue.

Do you keep in touch with him?

We keep in touch. As our senior, we visit him to pay respect on special occasions – for example, Thadingyut. If I have free time, I visit and talk with him. That’s all, [U Than Shwe is] not related to the party’s affairs.

What result to you expect on November 8?

My expectation is our party will win 100 percent [of seats].