Myanmar: Burma’s path to democracy is being wrecked by lethal identity politics | The Conversation UK

The very word “Burma” was once shorthand for a brutal military dictatorship, but things have now changed dramatically. Burma (or Myanmar) has come to be viewed as a country firmly committed to the establishment of a new reality, founded upon respect for human rights and the rule of law. Behind this changing perception are a series of planned government reforms and gestures. In 2010, under the auspices of the so-called “seven stage road-map to democracy” Burma’s government ended the 15-year house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi. A further 2,000 political prisoners were subsequently released, many of whom had languished in the aptly named Insein prison.

Myanmar: Suu Kyi Registers for Nov. 8 Election | VoA News

Myanmar’s democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi Wednesday registered for November elections to keep her seat in parliament and challenge the ruling military-backed party. Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy will contest almost all the 498 parliamentary seats in the Nov. 8 polls, and expects heavy gains, according to party spokesman Nyan Win. He said the party will announce the first batch of candidates Wednesday.

Myanmar: Burma’s Moment of Truth | Foreign Policy

o the Burmese government has finally set a date for the next national election. That’s good news. At least we know that there’s definitely going to be a vote. The government’s dithering had raised fears that it might be angling for a postponement. Yet Burma’s tribulations are far from over. The country’s nascent democracy is in deep trouble. The country’s nascent democracy is in deep trouble. And you don’t have to rely on me as the source. Just ask the Burmese. Recently I had the privilege to meet up here in Washington with Wai Wai Nu, a 27-year-old Burmese political activist. She had come to speak with U.S. government officials and human rights organizations, but ended up getting a bit more than she’d bargained for. On June 23, President Barack Obama invited her (and a diverse bunch of American Muslims) to the White House for iftar, the evening meal that marks the daily breaking of the Ramadan fast. Wai Wai Nu is a Rohingya, the Muslim minority that has been the object of considerable violence and discrimination in Burma in recent years.

Myanmar: Opposition Recruiting Allies Ahead of Poll | VoA News

The main opposition National League for Democracy in Myanmar, also known as Burma, is reaching out to other activists to bolster its position ahead of elections later this year. In Myanmar, also known as Burma, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, right, receives flowers from supporters of her National League for Democracy Party, Yangon International Airport, June 10, 2015.In Myanmar, also known as Burma, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, right, receives flowers from supporters of her National League for Democracy Party, Yangon International Airport, June 10, 2015. The party, led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has invited former student leaders and veteran politicians to join the NLD as candidates in November.

Myanmar: Myanmar Still in Dark Over General Election Main Players | Wall Street Journal

With Myanmar poised to hold its fairest general election in decades, the country remains in the dark over whom and what it will be voting for on Nov. 8. While Aung San Suu Kyi said her party will participate in the election, the Nobel Peace Prize winner is constitutionally barred from becoming president, leaving a blurred picture of what a vote for her would mean. And now the ruling party faces a potential leadership tussle between President Thein Sein and House Speaker Shwe Mann. Mr. Thein Sein, in power since the former military regime ceded control in 2011, has repeatedly hinted that he would seek a second term. On Tuesday, Zaw Htay, director of the president’s office, said Mr. Thein Sein’s “desires had not changed.” He said the president would seek a second term “if it is what the people wish.”

Myanmar: November date set for landmark Myanmar elections: What’s at stake? | CNN

Myanmar has set November 8 as the date for a landmark general election, the country’s election commission said. The vote will be the first to be held under the country’s military-backed, quasi-civilian government, which has been pushing through expansive political and economic reforms since 2011, bringing the country out of decades of authoritarian rule and international isolation. It is expected to be the freest, fairest vote seen in the country, also known as Burma, since 1990, when the first multi-party election in decades was held. That election was won convincingly by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), but the country’s ruling military junta refused to recognize the results.

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: 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: 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: 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.

Editorials: Southeast Asia Roundup: The (Electoral T)Ides of March | CEIP

Step aside Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, there are equally (some would argue more) gripping electoral contests occurring on the other side of the world—in Southeast Asia. Myanmar’s by-elections on April 1 were groundbreaking. Timor-Leste’s ongoing presidential elections seem to have already thrust the country in a new direction. And in Malaysia, Prime Minister Najib Razak may not have called for a vote, but election fever is in the air.

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: 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: 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.

Myanmar: Suu Kyi’s Party Gets Approval To Contest Myanmar By-election | rttnews.com

Myanmar’s election commission has given the green signal to the country’s main Opposition party to contest upcoming by-elections. A month after National League for Democracy (NLD) decided to rejoin national politics, its leader Aung San Suu Kyi and 20 other members applied for the party’s registration to the Union Election Commission on December 23.

NLD spokesman Nyan Win told media on Thursday that it got the approval of the Election Commission, and registered to participate in the April by-elections. Suu Kyi, who earlier said the party would contest all the 48 seats to which by-elections are held, in which she also would be a candidate, has not yet officially announced her decision. In an interview to BBC on Thursday, the Nobel laureate said she was optimistic Burma would hold “full democratic elections” in her lifetime.

Myanmar: Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi Registers Party, Visits Parliament | VoA News

Burma’s democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi formally registered her National League for Democracy as a political party Friday, clearing the way for her to run for a seat in parliament. Party officials say they will contest a series of coming by-elections once the registration is formally approved, expected within a week. Aung San Suu Kyi has not yet announced the constituency in which she expects to run.

The Nobel peace laureate also visited the parliament for the first time since her release from house arrest late last year. She met with Shwe Mann, a senior figure in the military-backed government and the long-ruling junta that preceded it.

Myanmar: Myanmar opposition leader Suu Kyi’s party registers to re-enter mainstream politics | The Washington Post

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi formally registered her party Friday for any upcoming elections, returning the Nobel laureate to the political arena and winning plaudits from her political rivals in Myanmar’s military-dominated parliament.

Suu Kyi decided last month to formally rejoin politics after recent reforms by the nominally civilian administration that took power this year. Suu Kyi, National League for Democracy leader Tin Oo and other party members registered the party at the Union Election Commission in the capital, Naypyitaw.

The party boycotted last year’s general elections because of restrictive rules that among other things prevented Suu Kyi from being a candidate. The government has since lifted many of those restrictions. The government had taken the NLD off the list of legally recognized political parties because of the boycott.

Myanmar: Election Chief Vows By-Election Will Be Free and Fair | Irrawaddy.org

The chief of Burma’s Election Commission (EC) said in a press conference on Friday that upcoming parliamentary by-election will be free and fair and the country’s existing political parties can now start their election campaigns. During the by-election, expected to be held in March, the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development party (USDP), opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) and Burma’s other political parties will compete for 48 vacant parliamentary seats.

Ex-army general Tin Aye, the EC chairman, vowed during the press conference in Naypyidaw on Friday that the by-election will be held in a free and fair manner and that the EC will be independent and not submit to any outside influence. If his prediction comes to fruition, it would stand in contrast to the 2010 parliamentary elections, Burma’s first in 20 years, which the NLD boycotted and observers condemned as widely fraudulent.