Burma's largest political party, the Union Solidarity Development Party, has been accused of harassment by its ethnic opponents.
A source close to the Karenni State based National Unity Development Party said the local USDP leaders forced businesses belonging to NUDP members to close.
USDP used its close connections to the military regime to close down mining operations and logging concessions belonging to the NUDP chairman, Oo Seh Reh Lapay.
A NUDP member said the family of Oo Seh Reh Lapay are upset their businesses have been shut down.
In response to the USDP intimidation the NUDP wrote a letter of complaint to the Electoral Commission, but have yet to receive a formal response.
It is not the first time the USDP have been accused by ethnic parties of using their considerable political power and close connections to the military to intimidate smaller parties. Parties in Shan State and Karen State have also claimed the USDP have closed down businesses and print shops connected to the smaller local based parties and made substantial campaign enticements to village heads.
The USDP's national leader, Thein Sein, is currently the regime's Prime Minister and was until recently a senior military officer. The USDP were formerly known as USDA, and regarded as the regime's civilian proxy. The USDA were not strangers to political controversy, regularly used by the regime to harassment its political opponents, students and monks.
In 2008 the New York based Human Rights Watch said the USDA used violence against Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League of Democracy supporters and were used in the violent crackdown against protesting monks in 2007.
Most people interviewed for this story were afraid to be identified because of repercussions from the USDP.
A source with close connections to the NUDP said USDP members warned the local party it was better if they did not contest the election. The USDP warned ethnic leaders that they 'would make them pay' as they 'did not want any political opposition in Karenni State'.
