"U Maung Oo visited Kyaukpru on an organizing trip for his party last Sunday and held a meeting with us at 1:30 pm in Rammarwaddy Hall. In the meeting, we were blamed and scolded for his party losing to the local Rakhine party in last year's election," said the official.
Maung Oo, who is now appointed as the regional in-charge of the USDP in Arakan State, had also served as the former home minister and commander of Arakan State under the SPDC military regime.
He has been traveling across the state to organize his party and is said to have called upon government officials on his tour, despite not being a member in the current government in Burma.
"Actually, he has no authority to call upon the government officials because he is now just a senior member in a political party and not either a minister or a member in the new government, but he still has enough power to force the officials to submit to his orders," said the official.
According to local residents, Maung Oo has also met with town elders after meeting with the USDP members and officials, and visited Nagar Kyaung Monastery on his one-day party organizing tour to Kyuakpru. He left for Ramere, a nearby town, in the early morning on Monday.
Sources said most people dislike Maung Oo because he had governed Arakan State in stringent and oppressive manner during his tenure as the commander for the state under the SPDC regime.
His return as the USDP's regional in-charge is seen as s threat to the local people as well as departmental officials, after the party lost most of the votes to the local party in the last election in the state.
Though the local Arakanese party won the majority of seats in the last election, the USDP, the military proxy party, still controls the Arakan State government by appointing its candidates as chief minister and minister for most the state ministries.
copy from Narinjara
