Exclusive: Myanmar military proxy USDP postpones congress amid leadership rivalry

Myanmar’s military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP)—which claimed nominal victory in the country’s illicit election early this year—has postponed a party congress scheduled for later this month after a dispute between its leaders and junta chief Min Aung Hlaing over control of the party’s top leadership. The congress, scheduled for September 17 and 18, was expected to select a new Central Executive Committee (CEC), the USDP’s highest decision-making body. However, sources close to senior party figures said it was abruptly postponed amid disagreements over who should occupy key leadership positions. At the centre of the dispute is a proposed list of CEC members that has yet to be agreed between the USDP’s existing leadership and coup-leader Min Aung Hlaing, who appointed himself president following the recent military-controlled elections, according to the sources. Former Gen. Aung Lin Dwe, one of Min Aung Hlaing’s closest subordinates and now speaker of the upper house of parliament, met senior USDP figures in recent days at Min Aung Hlaing’s direction in an attempt to resolve the dispute, the sources said. The negotiations failed to produce an agreement, prompting the postponement of the congress. USDP General Secretary Thaung Aye confirmed to Myanmar Now that the gathering had been postponed but declined to explain why. “For now, it has been postponed. I can’t give you the details yet,” he said. A source close to the party leadership was more explicit. “They couldn’t agree on the CEC list between Min Aung Hlaing’s people and the party,” the source told Myanmar Now. The dispute exposes tensions within what has become the military establishment’s most important political vehicle. The struggle has taken on added significance because Myanmar’s political landscape has been systematically dismantled since the 2021 coup. The National League for Democracy (NLD), which overwhelmingly defeated the USDP in the 2015 and 2020 elections, was dissolved by the military-controlled election authorities in 2023. Numerous other parties have been abolished, severely restricted or marginalised, leaving the USDP as, in effect, the military’s principal political proxy and the dominant national party operating within the political system constructed by the regime. A ruling party with little power Discontent within the USDP had been building for months before the congress was postponed. While the party emerged as the nominal ruling party following the election, its leaders were denied many of the most powerful positions in the new administration. USDP Chairperson Khin Yi, is a former brigadier general and national police chief who served as a minister in the quasi-civilian Thein Sein government, and then in Min Aung Hlaing’s regime following the 2021 coup. Despite his long history within the military establishment, Khin Yi did not become president after this year’s election, and instead received the position of speaker of the lower house. Chairman of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) Khin Yi speaks during the presentation of the party's election manifesto in Yangon, Myanmar, 19 November 2025 (EPA) The party also received only a small share of positions in an administration comprising 30 ministries, holding the vice presidency and five Union ministerial posts. The ministers include USDP vice-chair and former Lt.-Gen. Myo Zaw Thein and CEC members Maung Myint, Maung Thin, Khin Maung Soe and Ye Myint Tun. Under Myanmar’s military-drafted 2008 Constitution, ministers who belong to political parties are barred from participating in party activities while serving in office. This arrangement has fuelled resentment among USDP figures who believe that despite becoming the nominal ruling party, they received relatively little of the power that followed, according to sources close to the party. Those frustrations have not been expressed publicly, however. Some senior party figures are pushing for a USDP rule requiring anyone appointed to the government to have been a party member for at least three years, a source close to one party leader told Myanmar Now. Such a rule could prevent the practice of senior military officers joining the USDP shortly before elections and immediately receiving powerful political appointments. Many of the current ministers and lawmakers affiliated with the USDP only joined the party or ran under its banner shortly before the latest election, as directed by Min Aung Hlaing. Having placed loyalists across the military, government and parliament sectors, Min Aung Hlaing has also sought since the 2021 coup to strengthen the position of key former subordinates and allies within the USDP leadership, a Myanmar Now source in Naypyitaw said. Among those tipped for senior USDP positions are former Gen. Thet Pon, former Lt.-Gen. Tayza Kyaw and former Lt.-Gen. Soe Tint Naing. All three members left the military shortly before the election, ran as USDP candidates on Min Aung Hlaing’s orders, and subsequently became lawmakers. There has also been widespread speculation inside the party that Min Aung Hlaing ultimately intends to take over as USDP chair, while having Aung Lin Dwe manage the party on his behalf during his presidential term. Aung Lin Dwe, centre, leaves a session of parliament on March 18, shortly after being elected as speaker of the Amyotha Hluttaw, or upper house (Photo: Sai Aung Main / AFP) The Constitution, however, prohibits a serving president or vice president from participating in political party activities while in office. The reported plan and his attempt to install loyalists in the CEC would give Min Aung Hlaing greater control over the country’s main military-backed political organisation at a time when he no longer holds direct command of the armed forces. A party built by the generals The USDP traces its origins back to the military regime headed by former dictator Than Shwe. After refusing to honour the result of Myanmar’s 1990 general election, overwhelmingly won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD, the military spent years overseeing the drafting of a new constitution designed to preserve a central political role for the armed forces. The regime established the Union Solidarity and Development Association in 1993. It was transformed into the USDP ahead of the 2010 election as the military prepared for a nominal transition to civilian government. Than Shwe then withdrew from official political life, while former generals took control of the government, parliament and the newly created ruling party. More than three decades later, the USDP remains overwhelmingly controlled by former military officers. However, the current dispute suggests that Min Aung Hlaing is seeking to ensure that the people running the military’s political vehicle are not merely former officers loyal to the military, but figures personally loyal to him. Some of the current USDP leadership also outrank Min Aung Hlaing in the military’s deeply ingrained seniority system. Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing at the Martyrs’ Day ceremony in Yangon on July 19 (Photo: AFP) Khin Yi graduated from the Defence Services Academy’s 17th intake, two classes ahead of Min Aung Hlaing, who graduated with the 19th intake. USDP vice-chair Myat Hein, a former air force commander-in-chief, is also a graduate of the 17th intake. That seniority is significant because the current dispute is not between the military and an independent civilian party leadership. It is unfolding among different generations and networks of the military establishment. Min Aung Hlaing is attempting to consolidate his influence from a markedly different position than during the years following the coup. Having moved from commander-in-chief to the presidency, he no longer directly commands the armed forces, raising questions over how effectively he can maintain his influence over both the military and its political establishment.

Exclusive: Myanmar military proxy USDP postpones congress amid leadership rivalry

A leadership dispute inside the military-backed USDP has forced it to postpone a key party congress as Min Aung Hlaing seeks to tighten his grip on the regime’s political proxy

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