USDP

 

Factory workers in Yangon say they are being pushed to support Myanmar’s military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) ahead of next month’s election. Reports suggest local administrators and employers are mobilising staff, raising concerns about coercion in the vote.

 

Since October, junta-appointed ward officials have visited industrial zones to explain voting procedures and collect worker lists. Employees in Shwepyithar and Hlaing Tharyar townships told The Irrawaddy that factory owners are urging them to cast ballots for the USDP. Some workers have already been registered by local offices but are now required to complete additional voter application forms inside their workplaces.

 

One worker, speaking anonymously for fear of reprisals, said: “They are doing it for the party they support, the USDP.” Others described employers being pressured to allow election preparations on-site, with staff obliged to submit registration forms. While overt intimidation has not yet been reported, workers fear threats could follow if they refuse to participate.

 

Despite pledges from USDP chairman Khin Yi to raise wages and introduce new labour protections, many employees say they have little interest in voting. Ma Phyo Sandar Soe of the Confederation of Trade Unions Myanmar warned that ordinary people do not want to take part in the junta’s election. “Workers will try to avoid it as much as possible, but both employers and employees are under pressure,” she said.

 

International labour federations have denounced the polls as a sham. On International Democracy Day in September, the Global Union Federation, representing more than 200 million workers worldwide, condemned the planned vote as a “dangerous mockery of democracy” designed to entrench military rule.

 

The junta has scheduled the first phase of voting for 28 December in 102 townships, with a second round on 11 January covering another 100. For thousands of garment workers in Yangon, the election is less about choice than compliance, as pressure mounts from both administrators and employers to back the military’s proxy party.

 

-2025-11-25

On 11/25/2025 at 10:20 AM, geovalin said:

pressure mounts from both administrators and employers to back the military’s proxy party.

 

Surely it would be simple not to vote, but I suppose it woluld be difficult when a  Junta gun is pointing at you and the threat of being sacked!