Myanmar: Suu Kyi Says Her Party Will Run in Elections | Wall Street Journal

Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Saturday that her National League for Democracy party will participate in the country’s general elections in November. The opposition party’s participation reaffirms that the vote, scheduled to take place Nov. 8, would be the most inclusive in decades, and legitimizes the Myanmar government’s effort to ensure a free and fair election. Speaking to reporters at a news conference in Myanmar’s capital of Naypyitaw, Ms. Suu Kyi said her party would run candidates for seats in most of the available constituencies. The NLD, a party that rose to prominence in pro-democracy uprisings against the former military junta, won by a landslide in elections in 1990, but was forbidden from forming a government. Party members were thrown into prison, and Ms. Suu Kyi was put under house arrest.

Myanmar: Myanmar to Hire 40,000 Workers for Election Security | VoA News

Myanmar has started a campaign to recruit 40,000 temporary workers to help police provide security for elections scheduled for November. Police Force Colonel Maung Maung Soe said locals would be given preference to provide security for each polling station in the country. “We will train them for enough knowledge and guidelines of what a policeman should know or follow,” he said. “They must follow or act under the supervision of the Myanmar police force. We are now preparing for the two-week course in which what they should or shouldn’t do and job description for them will be included.”

Myanmar: Date set for election which could define scope of reforms | Reuters

Myanmar will hold a general election on Nov. 8, its election commission said on Wednesday, its first nationwide ballot since the end of direct military rule and a vote that could decide the scope of the country’s reforms. The election comes at a critical time for Myanmar, which has undergone major changes since shifting to a quasi-civilian system in 2011 but is now seeing tensions between rival forces vying for power after an unprecedented period of reform. The ballot would determine representatives of the bicameral parliament and regional chambers for five-year terms. The newly formed upper and lower houses would nominate and vote on who would be president later. The Nov. 8 date was confirmed by Nyunt Tin, a director of the Union Election Commission (UEC), when contacted by Reuters.

Myanmar: Election Commission Sets Date for General Elections | Wall Street Journal

Myanmar’s historic general elections are set for November 8, an official from the country’s election commission said Wednesday. Tin Tun, director general of the Union Election Commission, confirmed the date in an interview. The commission had previously said that the election would happen sometime in October or November. Mr. Tin Tun added that the commission will publicly announce the date on Wednesday evening. The landmark vote, which will be the first under Myanmar’s reformist government, is expected to be the freest and fairest in over two decades. Myanmar was ruled by a military junta for over six decades, which made way for a government that was nominally civilian after elections in 2010.

Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi accelerates political battle as she turns 70 | AFP

Myanmar’s indomitable opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has entwined her life with the politics of her country, but as she turns 70 on Friday “The Lady” is facing one of the greatest challenges of her decades-long freedom fight. While her National League for Democracy (NLD) party is expected to triumph at key elections this year, Suu Kyi’s pathway to the presidency is blocked by a controversial clause in Myanmar’s junta-era constitution. With polls slated for November, time is running out to change the contested clause before the vote and Suu Kyi’s advancing age adds urgency to her quest of leading a democratic Myanmar. Analyst Mael Raynaud said she was likely to refocus attempts to take the top job to a later election.

Myanmar: Draft charter bill still bars Suu Kyi presidency | AFP

Myanmar’s ruling party Thursday released a draft bill on changes to its junta-era constitution that could end an effective army veto on charter amendments, but still bars opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from the presidency. Her National League for Democracy (NLD) party is expected to sweep landmark elections, slated for November, but she is barred from the top job under a constitutional provision excluding those with a foreign spouse or children from the presidency. The long-awaited draft bill published in state newspaper The Mirror on Thursday kept this provision under clause 59f but, in a slight relaxation, it no longer applies the ban to those whose Myanmar national children have married foreigners. Suu Kyi’s late husband and two sons are British.

Myanmar: Voter lists incomplete, say absent MPs | Myanmar Times

Yangon Region electoral officials are scrambling to correct voters’ lists that contain some surprising omissions. U Kyaw, Yangon Region MP for Thingangyun township, says his name is not on the list. Another missing name is reportedly that of Daw Khin Aye, the wife of U Thein Nyunt, a Pyithu Hluttaw MP. Both MPs are members of the New National Democratic Party, and U Thein Nyunt is the party chair. Daw Khin Aye yesterday declined to comment on the reported omission. Electoral officials confessed that even a member of the electoral commission had been left off the list. None of this was deliberate, said one.

Myanmar: Myanmar on track for Nov vote, challenges remain – Election Commission | Reuters

Myanmar plans to go ahead with an election in November despite the challenges it faces in completing an electoral roll in the many areas of the country that have suffered ethnic conflict, the country’s election commission chairman said on Tuesday. The country is gearing up for a historic election in November, the first free vote in 25 years and a milestone in the country’s transition to democracy after 49 years of military rule ended in 2010.

Myanmar: Myanmar Court Deems White Card Holders’ Vote Unconstitutional, Sends Law Back to Parliament | The Irrawaddy

Burma’s Constitutional Tribunal informed Parliament on Monday that the articles of the recently passed Referendum Law that granted white card holders voting rights are in violation of the Constitution. Union Parliament Speaker Shwe Mann read out the Tribunal’s verdict stating that “white card holders are ineligible to vote in a referendum on amendment[s] of [the] State Constitution,” as it violated the charter’s Article 4, Article 38(a) and Article 391, state media reported on Tuesday. According to Article 391, only those with citizenship can be granted voting rights, the verdict stated. The verdict of the Tribunal had become a moot point after President Thein Sein last week decided to backtrack on the implications of the Referendum Law he had sent to Parliament by issuing a directive that let all temporary identification cards expire per March 31.

Myanmar: Myanmar nullifies temporary ID cards after nationalist protest | Bangkok Post

Myanmar Wednesday said identity cards for people without full citizenship, including Muslim Rohingya, will expire within weeks, snatching away voting rights handed to them just a day earlier after nationalist protests at the move. The Rohingya along with hundreds of thousands of people in mainly ethnic minority border areas, who hold the documents ostensibly as part of a process of applying for citizenship, will see their ID cards expire at the end of March, according to a statement from the office of President Thein Sein late Wednesday. “Those who are holding temporary identity cards must give back the expired registration documents,” the statement said, in a move that effectively overrides a clause giving them the right to vote in a constitutional referendum in a bill enacted with presidential approval on Tuesday. The dramatic about-face comes after dozens of protesters gathered in the commercial hub Rangoon Wednesday to call on the government not to allow people without full citizenship to vote in the proposed referendum.

Myanmar: White card vote prompts call for ministry resolution | Myanmar Times

The status of holders of temporary IDs – widely known as white cards – should be clarified as soon as possible, a leading MP said last week, as parliament voted to give them voting rights in an upcoming national referendum. Meanwhile, the head of an ethnic Rakhine party said he plans to submit the issue to the Constitutional Tribunal. U Zaw Myint Pe, chair of the Amyotha Hluttaw National Planning Affairs Committee, urged the Ministry of Immigration and Population to settle the matter without delay. “If the problem persists into the next generation, it will be rather difficult to settle it. White card holders should not be allowed to vote. They should be recognised as citizens or foreigners,” said U Zaw Myint Pe said. He made the comments on February 4, two days after the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw voted 328 to 79 to approve a proposal from President U Thein Sein that people who voted in the 2010 election should have the right to vote in a referendum scheduled for May.

Myanmar: Myanmar Cancels By-Elections in Move Welcomed by Suu Kyi’s NLD | Radio Free Asia

Myanmar’s election commission has scrapped by-elections scheduled for November to enable political parties to concentrate on the crucial 2015 general elections — a move welcomed by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD). Tin Aye, chairman of the Union Election Commission, told representatives from more than 30 political parties at a meeting in Yangon on Sunday that it was cancelling the by-elections to fill 35 vacant seats, citing logistical and other reasons. He said that the move would not only allow political parties to concentrate on the general elections next year but also avoid a clash of events as Myanmar, which is currently chairing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), is scheduled to host a high-profile regional meeting around the same time.

Myanmar: Myanmar axes by-elections in 35 parliamentary seats | The Star Online

Myanmar’s election commission scrapped November by-elections in 35 parliamentary seats, citing the pressure of hosting an upcoming regional summit and extra costs ahead of a nationwide poll in 2015. The Union Election Commission made the surprise announcement after a meeting with more than 30 political parties in Yangon. Explaining the decision, deputy director of the commission Hla Maung Cho said the number of lawmakers who would have been returned to parliament in the by-elections “will not make a big difference” to voting. He cited Myanmar’s chairing of the Asean summit in Novem­ber and the high cost of contesting polls for smaller political parties that were also planning their campaigns for the nationwide vote slated for November next year.

Myanmar: Myanmar’s Election Commission Rejects Opposition Call for Longer Campaigns | The Irrawaddy

The Union Election Commission (UEC) has rejected a request from the National League for Democracy (NLD) and ethnic parties to double the length of time parties will have to campaign for Burma’s crucial 2015 elections. The official election regulations will continue to restrict campaigning to 30 days before the polls, according to an election official, although exceptions may be made in remote states where the logistics of campaigning are expected to be difficult. The UEC met on Wednesday with representatives of the NLD—Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition party—and five ethnic parties, which proposed amendments to the election rules laid out by the commission last month. Thaung Hlaing, a director at the UEC, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that the parties’ proposal to allow 60 days of campaigning before voting day would not be adopted.

Myanmar: Opposition: No Progress in Talks With Election Commission | VoA News

Burma’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy, says it has made no progress in talks with the national Election Commission about controversial new campaign rules. NLD spokesman Nyan Win Thursday says that the rules are illegal. “No legislation has given authorization to anybody for this kind of instruction,” he said. “The second point is if they enforce this instruction it will be against the jurisdiction of the Union Parliament.”

Myanmar: National ID Scheme Met With Confusion, Indifference, Fear | Karen News

Burma’s National ID Cards grant relative freedom of travel, allow voting in national elections, access to official schools. Denied for decades basic government services, villagers in Karen State view Burma’s National ID Card scheme with a mix of confusion, indifference, and even fear. Some of the Karen interviewed for this story, referred to the government issued cards as ‘Burma ID cards’, indicative of how they distrust the central government after over six decades of civil war. “I got an ID card many years ago, because I couldn’t travel without one. Authorities would ask for money if they stopped you and you didn’t have one, and if you didn’t pay you would be in trouble.” Naw Thae Nay, a villager, said. “We lived in a mountainous area on the border, but needed the ID cards whenever we decided to travel to town. When I had the ID card, I felt like there is more freedom for me to travel and more freedom to get into a job. Also, if we don’t have ID card our kids will not be allowed to study in government schools.” But applying for an ID card raises it’s own concerns.

Myanmar: Parliament Told to Make Quick Decision on Electoral System | Radio Free Asia

The head of Myanmar’s election body asked parliament Friday to decide by the end of the year whether the country’s electoral system should be changed to one of proportional representation as proposed by some groups, saying an early decision would enable authorities to prepare ahead of the 2015 polls. Election Commission Chairman Tin Aye said basic rules for the upcoming general elections would be written by December, assuring that the polls would be “free and fair” unlike the 2010 elections held under military rule and which had been criticized by various groups. “I don’t want to have the bitter experience like that of the 2010 elections. I will make my commission members skillful and will educate the people ahead of the 2015 elections,” he said at a meeting with leaders of 36 political parties in Myanmar’s commercial capital Yangon.

Myanmar: Myanmar by-election riven with irregularities, ruling party complains | TODAYonline

Myanmar’s ruling party, which was founded and backed by the country’s former military junta rulers, yesterday complained that there were voting irregularities in last weekend’s by-election, which saw them soundly beaten by the country’s leading dissident, Ms Aung San Suu Kyi, and her party. Last Sunday’s landmark by-election brought the charismatic Nobel Peace Prize laureate and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party into office for the first time when they won 43 of the 45 seats up for grabs. The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) – which is comprised of many of the same former generals who seized power in 1988 and kept Ms Suu Kyi under house arrest for 15 years – won the one seat not contested by the NLD in the by-election.

Myanmar: Election commission confirms Suu Kyi victory | Voice of Burma

Burma’s election officials have confirmed that democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi’s party has won a landslide victory in Sunday’s by-elections. The Union Election Commission (UEC) announced that 40 of the 45 available seats have been taken by Suu Kyi’s National League of Democracy (NLD). The remaining five seats are yet to be counted. The NLD’s own count has estimated a victory in all 44 seats the party contested. It failed to contest the final seat as its candidate was disqualified.

Myanmar: Opposition Party Wins By-Election in Landslide | VoA News

Democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi declared a “new era” for Burma Monday, after her party claimed a landslide victory in Sunday’s parliamentary by-elections. Although official results could take days, the opposition National League for Democracy says it won at least 43 of the 44 seats it had contested.  That includes the four seats in the administrative capital, Naypyitaw, which is populated mostly by government workers and military personnel. Aung San Suu Kyi told a sea of supporters outside NLD headquarters in Rangoon Monday that she hoped the election results will force government to heed the will of ordinary citizens.   “We hope that this is the beginning of the new era, where there will be more emphasis on the role of the people in the everyday politics of the country,” she said.

International: From Prisoner to Parliament in Myanmar: Party Claims Victory for Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar | NYTimes.com

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the democracy advocate silenced for two decades by Myanmar’s generals with house arrests and overturned elections, assumed a new role in her country’s political transition on Sunday, apparently winning a seat in Parliament to make the remarkable shift from dissident to lawmaker. The main opposition party announced her victory on Sunday; if the result is confirmed, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, a 1991 Nobel Peace laureate and the face of Myanmar’s democracy movement, will hold a public office for the first time. But despite her global prominence, she will be joining a Parliament that is still overwhelmingly controlled by the military-backed ruling party. A nominally civilian government took power one year ago after years of oppressive military rule and introduced political changes it hoped would persuade Western nations to end economic sanctions. Sunday’s elections were seen as a barometer for the government’s commitment to change. To many here they represented a sea change; for the first time in two decades people in 44 districts across Myanmar had the chance to vote for Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy.

Myanmar: Opposition claims Myanmar’s Suu Kyi wins | The Associated Press

Supporters of Myanmar’s opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi erupted in euphoric cheers Sunday after her party said she won a parliamentary seat in a landmark election, setting the stage for her to take public office for the first time. The victory, if confirmed, would mark a major milestone in the Southeast Asian nation, where the military has ruled almost exclusively for a half-century and where a new reform-minded government is seeking legitimacy and a lifting of Western sanctions. It would also mark the biggest prize of Suu Kyi’s political career, and a spectacular reversal of fortune for the 66-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate who the former junta had kept imprisoned in her lakeside home for the better part of two decades.

Myanmar: Burma and Aung San Suu Kyi set for key elections | BBC News

Voters in Burma go to the polls shortly for by-elections that promise to be the most open contests in decades, with Aung San Suu Kyi among those standing. Her National League for Democracy (NLD) is contesting all 45 seats, vacated when politicians joined the new, military-backed civilian government. It is the first time Ms Suu Kyi is standing in an election herself. It is also the first time international observers have been allowed to monitor elections in modern Burma. The European Union looks set to ease some sanctions on the country if Sunday’s elections go smoothly.

Myanmar: Will invalid votes be a factor in Burma election results? | Myanmar Times

With a high turnout expected on April 1 and the government and election commission promising a free, fair and transparent poll, experts have urged voters to take greater care when casting their vote than in 2010, when large numbers were declared invalid. The number of lost or cancelled ballots ranged from 6.43pc for Amyotha Hluttaw constituencies to 7.4pc for State or Region Hluttaw constituencies, according to official figures. This was significantly lower than in 1990, when 12.3pc of votes were declared ineligible, but varied widely between constituencies; in the Pyithu Hluttaw seat of Hpakant, for example, 13,255 of 70,297 votes were invalid. “People are more interested in the April 1 by-elections than the previous election because NLD will be contesting most constituencies,” said Ko Nay Zaw Than, a businessman from Lanmadaw township who closely follows politics. “But it is important when voting that people fill out their forms correctly and also choose the best person to represent them, instead of focusing on a personality or party.”

Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi: Burma election not ‘free and fair’ | BBC News

Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has spoken of irregularities ahead of Sunday’s by-election. Speaking ahead of the 1 April vote, she said the election campaign could not be considered ”genuinely free and fair”. But the Nobel laureate said she was ”determined to go forward” and did not regret taking part in the poll. The National League for Democracy (NLD) party head is expected to win her seat in Kawhmu, south-west of Rangoon. In a press conference, Aung San Suu Kyi said the irregularities went “beyond what is acceptable for democratic elections”.

Myanmar: Asean observers invited for April elections | BBC News

Burma has invited foreign election observers for the first time to witness polls, officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) say. Asean said that it had been asked to send a total of 23 delegates including two MPs from each member state and media representatives. Analysts say it is a small but symbolic step as the military-backed civilian government introduces cautious reforms. Forty-eight seats in parliament are being contested in the 1 April vote. Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is standing for the first time since 1990, when Burma’s military leaders refused to recognise her National League for Democracy (NLD) party’s election victory.

Myanmar: Myanmar panel says Suu Kyi can run for Parliament | Associated Press

Myanmar’s Election Commission on Monday gave opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi the green light to run for parliamentary by-elections, another step toward political openness in a country emerging from nearly a half-century of iron-fisted military rule. Suu Kyi announced her intention last month to run in the April elections but was waiting for official approval from the commission, which said it had to scrutinize her eligibility. A spokesman for Suu Kyi’s party said the commission approved her candidacy and would make a formal announcement later Monday. “There is no objection to her nomination and we can say that her candidacy is officially accepted,” Nyan Win said.

Myanmar: Suu Kyi calls for changes to constitution | Reuters

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi called on Sunday for changes to the military-drafted constitution, on her first political trip since ending a boycott of the country’s political system last year and announcing plans to run for parliament. Thousands of supporters lined the roads, many shouting “Long live mother Suu,” as her motorcade wound through the rural coastal region of Dawei, about 615 km (380 miles) south of her home city, Yangon, the main business centre. The trip, only her fourth outside Yangon since her release from years of house arrest in November 2010, demonstrates the growing prominence of the Nobel Peace laureate as the Southeast Asian state emerges from half a century of isolation.

Myanmar: US Calls for International Observers at Burma By-elections | Irrawaddy.org

A US delegation fronted by Sen. John McCain and Sen. Joseph Lieberman will request that the Burmese government allow international observers to oversee April by-elections, which, if deemed free and fair, will almost certainly see the US remove some sanctions on the Burmese government. “Obviously we will have to look carefully at the process of the elections,” said McCain, who conceded that Burma’s reforms in recent months—including the release of several hundred political prisoners—are “a dramatic change in policy and behaviour in as short a time as a year ago,” he said. McCain confirmed that the delegation, which arrived in Burma on Sunday, would ask Burma’s government to allow international observation of the April by-elections, in response to a question about the issue from this correspondent.

Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi confirms run for parliament seat | The Associated Press

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi confirmed that she will run for a seat in parliament, her party said Tuesday, a move that will infuse April by-elections with legitimacy, star power and historic significance. Suu Kyi said last year that she would run for parliament but had appeared to backtrack since then. A victory would give the Nobel Peace Prize winner and longtime political prisoner a voice in parliament for the first time in her decades-long role as the country’s opposition leader.