Myanma general election, 2015
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General elections were held in
Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
on 8 November 2015, with the National League for Democracy winning a
supermajority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority ru ...
of seats in the combined national parliament. Voting occurred in all constituencies, excluding seats appointed by the military, to select Members of Assembly to seats in both the upper house (the House of Nationalities) and the
lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...
(the House of Representatives) of the Assembly of the Union, and State and Region Hluttaws. Ethnic Affairs Ministers were also elected by their designated electorates on the same day, although only select ethnic minorities in particular states and regions were entitled to vote for them. These polls were the first openly contested election held in the country since
1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
, which was annulled by the
military government A military government is generally any form of government that is administered by military forces, whether or not this government is legal under the laws of the jurisdiction at issue, and whether this government is formed by natives or by an occup ...
after the National League for Democracy's (NLD) victory. The poll was preceded by the 2010 general election, which was marred by a boycott and widespread allegations of systematic fraud by the victorious Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). The NLD won a sweeping victory, taking 86 percent of the seats in the Assembly of the Union (235 in the House of Representatives and 135 in the House of Nationalities), well more than the 67 percent supermajority needed to ensure that its preferred candidates would be elected president and second vice president in the Presidential Electoral College. While the NLD only needed a simple majority to carry on the normal business of government, it needed at least 67 percent to outvote the combined pro-military bloc in the Presidential Electoral College (the USDP and the appointed legislators representing the military). Although NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi is constitutionally barred from the presidency (as both her late husband and
her children Her is the objective and possessive form of the English-language feminine pronoun she. Her, HER or H.E.R. may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Music * H.E.R. (born 1997), American singer ** ''H.E.R.'' (album), 2017 * HIM (Finnish ...
are foreign citizens), she was made the ''de facto'' head of government, after being appointed to a newly created office, the
State Counsellor of Myanmar The state counsellor of Myanmar ( my, နိုင်ငံတော်၏ အတိုင်ပင်ခံပုဂ္ဂိုလ်) was the title of the ''de facto'' head of government of Myanmar, equivalent to a prime minister. The office ...
.


Preparation

As the election approached, the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party confirmed it would contest its winning constituencies from 2010. The opposition National League for Democracy party confirmed it would contest even if a constitutional measure barring Aung San Suu Kyi from running for president was not amended. The
National Unity Party The National Unity Party, National United Party, Party of National Unity or National Unity Front may refer to: * National United Party of Afghanistan (founded 2003) * National Unity Party (Albania) * National United Party (Armenia), defunct * Natio ...
confirmed it would review its winning seats from 2010 and would consider other constituencies to challenge. The National Democratic Force said the party was prepared to challenge in as many as 200 constituencies but was still determining candidates. Ethnic political groups would contest in each state based on ethnic party strongholds, although some indicated they would consider forming an alliance as the Federal Union Party. Before the election, 91 political parties were registered to take part in 2015. In July 2015, Myanmar's
Union Election Commission The Union Election Commission ( my, ပြည်ထောင်စု ရွေးကောက်ပွဲ ကော်မရှင်, abbreviated UEC) is the national level electoral commission of Myanmar (Burma), responsible for organising an ...
(UEC) designated the number of constituencies for running in the 2015 general election of four levels of parliamentary representatives: 330 constituencies for elections to the House of Representatives (the lower house), 168 for the House of Nationalities (the upper house), 644 for the State and Regional Hluttaws (local parliaments) and 29 for ethnic ministers of the local parliaments. The UEC also issued procedures for international observers to follow in monitoring the election, which was preliminarily scheduled for the end of October or the beginning of November. The Union Election Commission cancelled elections in Kyethi and Mong Hsu townships in Shan State following armed clashes between the Tatmadaw and the insurgent
Shan State Army - North Shan may refer to: People *Shan (surname), or 单 in Chinese, a Chinese surname *Shan, a variant of the Welsh given name usually spelled Siân *Occasionally used as a short form of Shannen/ Shannon Ethnic groups *Shan people, Southeast Asian e ...
. Despite calls by the Shan State Progressive Party to proceed with the elections, the UEC has denied the request, stating that it is not possible to hold free and fair elections in these areas. Elections were further cancelled in some villages in Hopang, Namtit, both of which fall within the nation's Wa Self-Administered Division, and under the control of the insurgent United Wa State Army. The cancellation of these elections will see the vacancy of 7 seats in the House of Representatives and 14 seats in the Shan State Hluttaw.


Cancellation of by-elections

By-elections had been scheduled to be held in November or December 2014, to elect members for six seats in the House of Nationalities, 13 in the House of Representatives, and 11 in state and regional legislatures. The seat vacancies were primarily the result of their former holders' moves to ministerial posts or departmental positions within government, but also included some other constituencies where representatives had died. The by-elections were expected to indicate the relative strengths of the contending parties, including President Thein Sein's Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party led by Aung San Suu Kyi. On 7 September 2014, the
Union Election Commission The Union Election Commission ( my, ပြည်ထောင်စု ရွေးကောက်ပွဲ ကော်မရှင်, abbreviated UEC) is the national level electoral commission of Myanmar (Burma), responsible for organising an ...
cancelled the by-election because the period for campaigning would take place too close to that of the general elections in 2015 and because the results would therefore not have had any political significance.


Possible presidential candidates


Before election

In the event of a USDP victory, President Thein Sein was considered the frontrunner to continue as President after the election. Commander-in-Chief of the Military Min Aung Hlaing is close to retirement and was another favourite for the presidency, but may assume the role after a transitional period headed by another ex-military figure. Aung San Suu Kyi has reiterated her desire to become the next president but constitutional changes need to take place before she would be allowed to run. Although Parliament voted against most constitutional amendments on 25 June 2015 meaning that Aung San Suu Kyi cannot become president in the election, Suu Kyi later stated that she would be "above the President" if the NLD won the elections.
Shwe Mann '' Thura'' Shwe Mann ( my, သူရ ရွှေမန်း, ; born 11 July 1947) is a Burmese politician who was Speaker of the Pyithu Hluttaw, the lower house of parliament from 31 January 2011 to 29 January 2016.Freeman, A. & Roads, J"Myanm ...
, the former No. 3 in the
junta Junta may refer to: Government and military * Junta (governing body) (from Spanish), the name of various historical and current governments and governing institutions, including civil ones ** Military junta, one form of junta, government led by ...
who is now speaker of House of Representatives, considered reform-minded, was the most likely figure to take the mantle from Thein Sein until he was removed from his position within the party on 12 August 2015.


After election

While National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is constitutionally barred from the presidency, former commander-in-chief of Tatmadaw Tin Oo, Aung San Suu Kyi's personal physician
Tin Myo Win Tin Myo Win ( my, တင်မျိုးဝင်း; born: ) is a Burmese physician, former political prisoner and long-time personal physician of Burmese politician Aung San Suu Kyi. Personal life and political career Tin Myo Win taught s ...
, Htin Kyaw,
Myo Aung Myo Aung ( my, မျိုးအောင် , born 17 February 1951) is a Burmese politician and physician who formerly served as an Amyotha Hluttaw MP for Kayin State No. 9 constituency and Chairman of the Naypyidaw Council and Naypyidaw Devel ...
and
Tin Mar Aung Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...
are mentioned as possible presidential picks and Khun Htun Oo,
Sai Nyunt Lwin Sai or SAI may refer to: Companies * Science Applications Incorporated, original name of Leidos * ICAO designator for Shaheen Air, a Pakistani airline * Skandinavisk Aero Industri, a former Danish aeroplane manufacturer * Software Architects, Inc ...
and
Aye Thar Aung Aye Tha Aung ( my, အေးသာအောင် also spelt Aye Thar Aung; born: 10 December 1945) is a Burmese politician, former political prisoner and former Deputy Speaker of the Amyotha Hluttaw, the upper house of the Myanmar parliament. ...
are mentioned as possible vice presidential picks after the election. On 10 March 2016, Htin Kyaw and
Henry Van Thio Henry Van Thio (; born 9 August 1959) is a Burmese politician who is the Second Vice President of Myanmar since 30 March 2016. He previously served as a member of Amyotha Hluttaw (House of Nationalities). In the 2015 election, he contested and ...
were nominated as the Vice Presidents of Myanmar by NLD. Htin Kyaw was elected as the ninth president of Myanmar on 15 March 2016 by 360 of the 652 MPs at the Assembly of the Union; Aung San Suu Kyi was appointed as the State Counsellor, a position similar to Prime Minister, on 6 April 2016.


Results

The National League for Democracy (NLD) obtained a majority of the total seats in both the House of Nationalities and the House of Representatives of the Assembly of the Union, which is enough for its nominees to win election as president and first vice president in the Presidential Electoral College, and for control over national legislation. The NLD also received a majority of total combined seats in the State and Regional Hluttaws, including 21 of 29 Ministers of Ethnic Affairs. With the final tally of all elected seats (township and ethnic), it is believed they will have the ability to control most local governments and parliaments, either entirely on its own or with the support of ethnic parties. The exceptions to this are the
Rakhine State Hluttaw Rakhine State Hluttaw ( my, ရခိုင်ပြည်နယ်လွှတ်တော်) is the legislature of the Rakhine State, Myanmar. It is a unicameral body, consisting of 47 members, including 35 elected members and 12 military repres ...
, where the Arakan National Party won a plurality of total seats and is expected to govern with the NLD's support, and the Shan State Hluttaw, where the USDP (which won a plurality of elected seats) and Military Representatives control roughly equal seats to the combined total of the various other parties, led by the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy and the NLD in second and third place, respectively.


House of Nationalities

168 of the 224 seats in the House of Nationalities (Amyotha Hluttaw) were up for election. The remaining 56 seats (25%) were not elected, and instead reserved for military appointees (taken from Tatmadaw personnel; officially known as "Defence Services Personnel Representatives"). There are 12 members elected per state/region, including one member from each
self-administered zone A self-administered zone is an administrative division, administrative subdivision in Myanmar (Burma). There are five ''self-administered zones'' and one ''self-administered division''. Self-administered zones and self-administered division ...
. The list of military appointees was published as the UEC Announcement 2/2016.


House of Representatives

There are 330 of 440 seats in the House of Representatives (Pyithu Hluttaw) that are elected, of which 323 were filled after seven seats were cancelled due to the ongoing armed insurgencies in Shan State. The remaining 110 seats (25%) were not elected, and instead reserved for military appointees (taken from Tatmadaw personnel; officially known as "Defence Services Personnel Representatives"). Members are elected to constituencies based on township and population. The list of military appointees was published as the UEC Announcement 1/2016.


State and Regional Hluttaws

There are 644 district seats (out of a total of 864) in the State and Regional Hluttaws, or Local Assemblies, of which 630 were up for election after 14 seats were cancelled due to the ongoing armed insurgencies in Shan State. These figures exclude the 29 elected Ethnic Affairs Ministers, who have different election parameters and their accountability solely to an ethnic electorate, but also sit alongside the elected district and appointed military members of their respective state/region. There are two members are elected for each township of the state/region. The remaining 220 seats (approximately 25% of each assembly) were not elected, and instead reserved for military appointees (taken from Tatmadaw personnel; officially known as "Defence Services Personnel Representatives"). The list of military appointees was published as the UEC Announcement 3/2016.


Ethnic Affairs Ministers

29 Ministers of Ethnic Affairs for the State and Regional Assemblies were up for election. "Under the 2008 Constitution, ethnic affairs ministers are elected to a given state or division if that division is an ethnic minority population of 0.1 percent or greater of the total populace oughly 51,400 peopleMyanmar 2015 General Elections Fact Sheet
/ref> If one of the country's ethnic minorities counts a state as its namesake, however, it is not granted an ethnic affairs minister (e.g., there is no Mon ethnic affairs minister in Mon State). Only voters who share an ethnic identity with a given ethnic affairs minister post are allowed to vote for candidates to the position." Ministers are not elected for ethnicities that are a majority of their state or region, or where a state/region already has a self-administered region or self-administered division dedicated to those ethnic groups.


Reactions

On 9 November 2015, former chairperson of the Union Solidarity and Development Party and Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Shwe Mann '' Thura'' Shwe Mann ( my, သူရ ရွှေမန်း, ; born 11 July 1947) is a Burmese politician who was Speaker of the Pyithu Hluttaw, the lower house of parliament from 31 January 2011 to 29 January 2016.Freeman, A. & Roads, J"Myanm ...
, conceded defeat to the National League for Democracy's Than Nyunt in his hometown constituency of Phyu, announcing on his Facebook that he had 'personally congratulated' his opponent for the victory. On 9 November 2015, acting chairperson of the Union Solidarity and Development Party,
Htay Oo Htay Oo ( my, ဌေးဦး; born 20 January 1950) is a Burmese former politician and military officer, and previously served as Pyithu Hluttaw MP for Hinthada constituency from 2011 to 2016. He also served as Minister for Agriculture and Irri ...
, announced that the party had conceded defeat in a statement to Reuters. On 11 November 2015, chairperson of the National League for Democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi, called for 'national reconciliation' talks with incumbent president, Thein Sein, commander-in-chief of the
Myanmar Armed Forces Tatmadaw (, , ) is the official name of the armed forces of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services include th ...
, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, and Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Shwe Mann '' Thura'' Shwe Mann ( my, သူရ ရွှေမန်း, ; born 11 July 1947) is a Burmese politician who was Speaker of the Pyithu Hluttaw, the lower house of parliament from 31 January 2011 to 29 January 2016.Freeman, A. & Roads, J"Myanm ...
to be set for a later date. All have accepted her invitation. On 12 November 2015, incumbent President of Myanmar, Thein Sein, who has led political reforms during his tenure, congratulated Aung San Suu Kyi and her party on his Facebook, promising that his current government will 'respect and obey' the election results and 'transfer power peacefully'. Commander-in-chief of the
Myanmar Armed Forces Tatmadaw (, , ) is the official name of the armed forces of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services include th ...
, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, also took to his Facebook to congratulate Suu Kyi, vowing that the Tatmadaw will co-operate with the new government following the transition. This was after a meeting conducted within the Tatmadaw's top ranks. US President Barack Obama and UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...
congratulated Suu Kyi on her victory and praised Thein Sein for his organisation of the election. Suu Kyi also received calls from French President
François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (PS) from 1997 to 2008, Mayor of Tulle from ...
, British Prime Minister
David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Philippine President Benigno Aquino III.


Political transition

Myanmar's recent political history is underlined by its struggle to establish democratic structures amidst conflicting factions. This political transition from a closely held military rule to a free
democratic system Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...
is widely believed to be determining the future of Myanmar. The resounding victory of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy in 2015 general elections has raised hope for a successful culmination of this transition. The 2017 murder of
Ko Ni Ko Ni ( my, ကိုနီ, ; 11 February 1953 – 29 January 2017) was a prominent Burmese lawyer and an expert on constitutional law. He was assassinated by gunshot in Yangon, Myanmar, on 29 January 2017. Early life and education Ko Ni was bo ...
, a prominent Muslim lawyer and a key member of
Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
’s governing National League for Democracy party and the Rohingya genocide is seen as a serious blow to the country’s fragile democracy. Mr. Ko Ni’s murder has caused fears about the removal of a trusted advisor for Aung San Suu Kyi, particularly in regards to reforming
Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
’s military-drafted Constitution and ushering the country to democracy.


Controversy

Controversy has been raised over such issues as inaccurate voter lists, cancellation of voting in some violent areas, vilification of
Burmese Muslims Islam is a minority religion in Myanmar, practiced by about 2.3% of the population, according to the 2014 Myanmar official statistics. History In the early Bagan era (AD 652-660), Arab Muslim merchants landed at ports such as Thaton and Martaba ...
as a campaign tool, and the ineligibility to vote of the Muslim Rohingyas. According to '' The Economist'', "No matter how many millions of Burmese vote against the Union Solidarity and Development Party, which rules the country and is backed by the army, the army will remain the real power in Myanmar." There have been allegations of fraud in many townships where unknown ballots cast as advance votes boosted the results of the Union Solidarity Development Party. The Union Election Commission has defended these votes, stating that they had arrived before the polling booths closed, and thus they were legitimate votes. In Lashio, where the National League for Democracy was expected to win, there are allegations of voting fraud which pulled USDP candidate and incumbent vice-president
Sai Mauk Kham Dr Sai Mauk Kham ( shn, ၸၢႆးမွၵ်ႇၶမ်း, my, စိုင်းမောက်ခမ်း ; born 17 August 1949) is a Burmese politician and physician who currently serves as a House of Representatives MP for Lashio To ...
forward by more than 4000 votes. The NLD, Shan Nationalities League for Democracy and Shan Nationalities Democratic Party have agreed to file a complaint with the Union Election Commission. The UEC responded by declaring that the victory of Sai Mauk Kham was legal and that no fraud had taken place.


Notes


References

{{Portal bar, Politics Elections in Myanmar
Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
General Burmese democracy movements