Junta to Announce Election Laws after USDA Conference

2 November 2009: Burma’s ruling military junta is set to announce a set of laws governing the elections in 2010 soon after the general conference of the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), which is set to take place on November 23 in the new administrative capital of Naypyidaw, a USDA insider source has said.

The pronouncement of new electoral laws is expected to take place as early as the last week of November or early December, according to the source. The new law will also prescribe rules governing the formation of political parties that will contest for the 2010 elections.

The USDA, junta-backed mass social organization, is widely believed to be transformed as a political party during its general conference later this month.

Meanwhile, senior US envoys who are expected to arrive in Naypyidaw on Tuesday will only meet with Prime Minister General Thein Sein as the junta supremo General Than Shwe and key ministers are heading to the delta to assess post Cyclone Nirgis situations, a Naypyidaw source said.