The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which is backed by Burma’s military, is campaigning ethnic Kachin churches, using small donations to gain votes on November 7th, according to Kachin church sources.

On October 11, USDP candidate, U Thein Zaw, campaigned at the Kachin Roman Catholic Church in Gat Shang Yang Village, 18 miles south of Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State. Church sources said he made a donation 3 million kyat (est. US$3,109) to the church.