Shan Nationalities League for Democracy

The Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) was founded on October 26, 1988.

The party's policy is building a federal union system that practises democracy. Its political ideology is Shan national rights and a federal union system, and its slogan is "Without equality there can be no peace; without peace, democracy cannot be built".

The party's chair was Khun Tun Oo, adopted son of Shan State Government secretary Sao Kya Zone, and in the 1990 election it became the party with the second-highest number of elected seats nationwide.

In 1993, ten delegates, five elected representatives and five members of the party's central committee, attended the National Convention held by the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). Because the political problems were not being resolved through dialogue and the process amounted to drafting a constitution to suit the military, it walked out of the convention on May 4, 2014.

The SNLD's current chair is U Sai Nyunt Lwin, with Sai Kham Paing Hpa (a.k.a. U Khin Maung Nyunt) as Vice-Chair (1) and Sai Hla Pe (a.k.a. Lon Hseng Yon) as Vice-Chair (2). The party's general secretary is Sai La (a.k.a. Sai Leik). Central executive committee members serve as chairs of the party headquarters' branch offices in southern Shan/Kayah, northern Shan, eastern Shan, Mandalay and Kachin.

The SNLD, a major party in the Shan region, was a member in 1998 of the Committee Representing the People's Parliament (CRPP), formed to convene parliament with representatives who won the 1990 election. It also took part in the Shan State Joint Actions Committee (SSJAC) and the Committee for Shan State Unity (CSSU). Through the CSSU, it issued positions on the Salween River dam projects; it was also a member of the United Nationalities Alliance (UNA), and together with the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) took part in drafting basic principles and policies for building a federal democratic union.

In 2005, the military government arrested central committee members including party chair U Khun Tun Oo and secretary Sai Nyunt Lwin and handed them long prison sentences.

When the military government sought to hold an election under the 2008 Constitution, parties were required to re-register with the election commission under the Political Parties Registration Law it enacted. Because the SNLD opposed the election and did not register, it was deregistered as a party by Election Commission Announcement No. (97/2010) on September 14, 2010.

It sent party representatives to the signing of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) and the Union Peace Conference (2010), and took part in discussions on processes for building a federal union. At the second session of the Union Peace Conference, it also issued a separate party policy position on the principle that "no part of the state's territory shall ever secede from the state". It also issued positions on the military's air strikes in Kachin State.

After the U Thein Sein government came to power through the 2010 election and detained party leaders were released in 2012, a meeting held on January 20, 2012, re-registered the party so that it could operate legally. Through Central Committee Meeting (1/2015) it announced that it would contest the election; it contested the 2015 election, won most seats in Shan State and became the largest ethnic party in the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw. However, coordination on administrative roles with the election-winning National League for Democracy (NLD) broke down, and it declined to join the government.

In January 2020, the central executive committee meeting accepted party chair Khun Tun Oo's request to retire, and elected Sai Nyunt Lwin as chair. Shortly after the change of chair, the military seized power on February 1, 2021. The party, and the CSSU, issued statements objecting to the coup⁴. The CSSU's statement issued on February 9 urged all ethnic peoples to take part together in

- ending dictatorship

- abolishing the 2008 Constitution

- building a federal democratic union

- bringing about a people's government.

The SNLD was offered places in the government reconstituted by the coup military but declined. Through the UNA, it issued statements objecting to and condemning the authorities' armed crackdown on unarmed people in the Spring Revolution that arose from the coup. It also responded that it would not accept summonses and investigations by the Union Election Commission formed by the military council, and declared that it recognizes as the people's representatives of their constituents the party's 42 representatives elected in the 2020 election, whose fairness had not been challenged.

It agreed with the Federal Democracy Charter issued by the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), formed by 2020-elected representatives, which included forming the National Unity Government, and with its declaration finally abolishing the 2008 Constitution. It also urged the NUG to consult effectively with ethnic groups in drafting a federal constitution.

In June 2021, the election commission formed by the military council carried out inspections of the party headquarters. During the inspections, military security affairs (Sa Ya Pha) officers focused mainly on whether the party had any contact with the NUG and CRPH. During this period, the party carried out political activity through position statements and statements issued on behalf of groupings it belongs to, while also working on the affairs of displaced people in the region and unity among armed forces in the region.

After the election commission enacted a new Political Parties Registration Law, the party's central executive unanimously decided not to re-register, and because it refused again, on March 18, 2023, it was declared automatically dissolved as a political party.