Mizzima News

Rangoon (Mizzima) – The Union Kayin League (UKL), the oldest Karen [Kayin] political party, is looking for new members in an effort to reform after being dissolved.      
 

Mann Nyunt Maung, the general-secretary of the UKL Photo: Yan Naung / Mizzima

“I’ve talked about it with the former members. And I’m finding new members,” said Mann Nyunt Maung, who spent many years in exile, and returned to Burma from Australia.
 
The UKL was founded by ex-Burmese President Mann Win Maung. It contested in the 1990 general elections and attended the National Convention that drew up the current Constitution.

Before the 2010 general elections, it re-registered as a political party, but it was dissolved because it failed to contest in at least three constituencies in the 2010 general elections.
 
After the UKL has been re-established, instead of contesting elections in Karen State, it will mainly stand for elections in the Pegu [Bago], Irrawaddy [Ayeyarwady] and Rangoon [Yangon] Region where a considerable number of Karen people live, said Mann Nyunt Maung.

Currently, there are three legal Karen political parties: the Kayin Peoples Party, the Phalon-Sawaw Democratic Party and Kayin State Democracy and Development Party.