Shan and Nationalities Democratic Party
Shan and Nationalities Democratic Party ရှမ်းတိုင်းရင်းသားများ ဒီမိုကရက်တစ်ပါတီ | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | SNDP |
| Chairman | Sai Aik Paung |
| Vice-Chairman | Sai Saung Si |
| General Secretary | Sai Hla Kyaw |
| Founded | 8 April 2010 |
| Headquarters | No. 173, Shwegondaing Road, Ward 5, Thaketa Township, Yangon Region |
| Ideology | Shan interests Conservatism Minority interests |
| Seats in the Amyotha Hluttaw | 1 / 224
|
| Seats in the Pyithu Hluttaw | 6 / 440
|
| Seats in the Shan State Hluttaw | 1 / 151
|
| Election symbol | |
 | |
| Party flag | |
 | |
| Website | |
| https://sndp.party/ | |
The Shan and Nationalities Democratic Party (Burmese: ရှမ်းတိုင်းရင်းသားများ ဒီမိုကရက်တစ် ပါတီ [ʃáɴ táɪɴjɪ́ɴðámjá dìmòkərɛʔtɪʔ pàtì]; abbreviated SNDP), also known as the White Tiger Party or Kya Phyu Party[1], formerly the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party[2] is a political party in Myanmar (Burma).[3]
Unlike the similarly named Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), the party prefers the status quo of 7 states and 7 regions, rather than the SNLD's preference for a federal system with 8 states.[4]
History
The party was formally registered in April 2010. The party's headquarters are in South Okkalapa Township, Yangon, and its chairman since founding is Sai Aik Paung, a former member of the central executive committee of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy. In the 2010 general election, the party contested seats in Shan State, Kachin State and the Mandalay Region. After the 2010 general election, the two SNDP representatives in the Shan State Hluttaw, Sai Aik Paung and Sai Naw Kham, were appointed ethnic affairs ministers of Shan State.
In December 2011, the party's head office moved to Taunggyi, the capital of Shan State. It later moved to the Yangon region.
After the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état the party met with the regime appointed Union Election Commission and took part in the Political Parties Group of the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee, that aimed to represent the interests of political parties willing to work with the military regime, with party chairman Sai Aik Paung chairing the group.[5] The party was re-registered as a political party in 2023, after the regime enacted a new law on political parties. It changed its name to Shan and Nationalities Democratic Party to allow it to field candidates outside of Shan State.[2] It ran candidates in the regime-controlled 2025–26 Myanmar general election and became the second largest elected group in the Pyithu Hluttaw with 6 seats, behind the military-dominated Union Solidarity and Development Party that won 233 seats. Party chairman Sai Aik Paung protested the conduct of the elections as unfair and alleged ballot manipulations by the regime.[6]
House of Nationalities (Amyotha Hluttaw)
| Election | Total seats won | Total votes | Share of votes | Outcome of election | Election leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 3 / 224
|
496,039 |  3 seats; Opposition
|
Sai Aik Paung | |
| (after) 2012 | 4 / 224
|
1 seat; Opposition
|
Sai Aik Paung | ||
| 2015 | 0 / 224
|
123,198 | 0.54% |  4 Seats
Extra-Parliamentary |
Sai Aik Paung |
| 2020 | 0 / 224
|
99,853 | 0.37% |  0 Seats
Results annulled |
Sai Aik Paung |
| 2025–26 | 1 / 224
|
867,536 (Proportional) | 6.86% (Proportional) | 1 seat
|
Sai Aik Paung |
House of Representatives (Pyithu Hluttaw)
| Election | Total seats won | Total votes | Share of votes | Outcome of election | Election leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 18 / 440
|
508,780 | 2.44% | 18 seats ; Opposition
|
Sai Aik Paung |
| (after) 2012 | 18 / 440
|
; Opposition
|
Sai Aik Paung | ||
| 2015 | 0 / 224
|
120,815 | 0.54% | 18 Seats
Extra-Parliamentary |
Sai Aik Paung |
| 2020 | 0 / 224
|
94,155 | 0.35% | 0 Seats
Results annulled |
Sai Aik Paung |
| 2025–26 | 6 / 224
|
802,414 | 6.16% | 6 seats
|
Sai Aik Paung |
By-election
| Election | Seats up for election | Seats contested by party | Contested seats won | Contested seats lost | Total votes | Share of votes | Outcome of election |
| 2012 | 37 (Pyithu) / 5 (Amyotha) | 1 (Pyithu) / 3 (Amyotha) | 0 (Pyithu) / 1 (Amyotha) | 1 (Pyithu) / 2 (Amyotha) | 1 seat gain from USDP | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 13 (Pyithu) / 6 (Amyotha) |
See also
References
- ^ "White Tiger party to contest in five seats in coming by-elections". Archived from the original on 23 August 2011. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
- ^ a b SHAN (3 March 2023). "White Tiger Party Changes Name For Burma's Election". Shan Herald Agency for News. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
- ^ "Shan Nationalities Democratic Party". Archived from the original on 22 August 2010. Retrieved 21 August 2010.
- ^ Myint, Sithu Aung. "Sai Ai Pao, Chairman of the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party". Frontier Myanmar. Retrieved 31 December 2015.[dead link]
- ^ "National Unity and Peace Coordination Committee meets working group of political parties in Nay Pyi Taw". Eleven Media Group Co., Ltd. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
- ^ "White Tiger Party requests 'free and fair' elections in final two phases". DVB. 6 January 2026. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
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