SENG PHOO — The chair of the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP) says he’s confident of his party’s success during the upcoming 2020 general election.

“We won 58 seats in the previous election and expect to win the same seats in the upcoming general election,” Sai Aik Pao told SHAN. He says six SNLD parliamentarians secured minister positions during the last election. If his party wins the majority of seats in Shan State, it can run the state government.

Sai Aik Pao says the SNDP plans to contest seats in the upper and lower house and state parliament in townships in Shan and Kachin states, and in Mandalay Region.

“We’ll run in 30 townships in northern, southern and eastern Shan State, and in Kachin State. We contest the Shan ethnic affairs minister post in Mandalay Region,” he says.

Sai Aik Pao says the party’s top leaders won’t run. Female and youth candidates will be prioritized to field for the upcoming election. “I expect that women and youth electoral candidates will make up 20 to 30 percent of our party,” he says.

“I won’t run in the coming election. We’re going to hand over positions to our younger generation.”

In the 2015 general election, SNDP won only one seat in Shan State Parliament.

The party was formed to contest the 2010 general election. After the election, SNDP members Sai Ai Pao and Sai Naw Kham were appointed ethnic affairs ministers of Shan State.