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Ethnic Aspirations Not Exclusively Tied to the 2015 Elections
On Friday 9 October, 2015, Burma Partnership released the report Elections for Ethnic Equality? A Snapshot of Ethnic Perspectives on the 2015 Elections at the Royal Rose Restaurant, Rangoon. The report highlights the need for institutional and structural reforms of governance to be implemented that reduce the power of the Burma Army and devolve power to Region and State Parliaments as a priority for ethnic communities. Otherwise, elections will not be able to make substantive changes to the communities’ lives […]
The Exploitation of Conflict in Burma’s 2015 General Elections
The Union Election Commission (UEC) has declared 102 villages in Karen State to be too dangerous for polling to take place, which will prevent nearly 10,000 citizens in Burma from voting during the 8 November, 2015 General Elections. The announcement comes amid a number of similar voting cancellations and interference during the last few months […]
The Burma Army Must Respect a “Free and Fair” Election
A request from the Burma Army to issue army personnel as polling station officers across 15 polling stations within military compounds in Zeyathiri Township has been denied by an election sub-commission in Naypyidaw. The demand from the Burma Army cites security concerns as a primary reason for involvement in the polling stations, though sub-commission officials are well aware that this will raise concerns amongst election observers. According to Burma’s Election Law, polling station officers are to be appointed from positions within the civil service, such as from the education ministry […]
Burma’s 2015 Elections: No Place for Ignorance, Discrimination, or the Ma Ba Tha
On 15 September 2015, the foreign embassies of Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Norway, Japan, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America issued a joint statement calling on the Burma Government to ensure transparency in the 2015 elections. The focus of their announcement highlighted a growing concern amongst observers of Burma’s transition towards democracy, “As the campaign in Myanmar officially begins, however, we, as international partners invested in the success of this country and these elections, are concerned about the prospect of religion being used as a tool of division and conflict during the campaign season […]”
2015 Elections Highlight Longstanding Gender Imbalance
The Union Election Commission has announced that of the 6,189 candidates that registered for the 2015 elections on 8 November, only 800 are women […]
The UEC Must Review Discriminatory Candidate Rejections
On 20 August, the Union Election Commission (UEC) announced the preliminary candidate lists for the upcoming 8 November General Election. So far, 5,866 candidates have been nominated from 93 political parties across the country, with both the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and the National League for Democracy (NLD) each fielding over 1,000 candidates […]
More Clashes, More Talks, No Protection
As talks over the signing of a nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) continue, with another meeting planned for later this month, the Burma Army continues to attack various ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) in Kachin, Palaung, Shan and Karen areas, casting doubt on the dominant narrative of optimism that surrounds the NCA. Meanwhile, as has always been the case, it is civilians and local communities who are bearing the brunt of the war, with their protection glaringly absent in the ceasefire discourse […]
President Thein Sein’s Chance to Reject Discriminatory Laws
As the Lower House of Parliament convenes after the dramatic purge of speaker Shwe Mann, it has wasted no time passing two laws that form the package of discriminatory protection of race and religion bills. The first two have already been passed by Parliament earlier this year, and the remaining two, the ‘Religious Conversion Bill’ and the ‘Monogamy Bill’ were approved last week. Now the final passage is just awaiting the decision from President Thein Sein […]
• • •Burma Army Flexes its Muscles in Political Purge
In a dramatic development on the August 12, Parliamentary Speaker, Shwe Mann was ousted from his position as Chair of the ruling party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). Security forces surrounded USDP headquarters in Naypyidaw and purged the influential political figure from his position within the party. Information Minister, Ye Htut, stated that his close relationship with National League for Democracy (NLD) leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as support for constitutional change that would reduce the power of the Burma Army was behind his ouster […]
Humanitarian Aid not Political Maneuvering
This year’s monsoon rains have hit Burma harder than most years in the country’s history, leading to the worst natural disaster since Cyclone Nargis in 2008. So far, nearly 100 people have died from the severe flooding caused by heavy rains and flash floods and over one million people have been affected in all but two of Burma’s 14 states and regions since June 2015. Approximately 1.2 million acres of rice fields have been destroyed including large parts of Burma’s “rice bowl,” the Irrawaddy Delta, and nearly 14,000 educational institutions have been temporarily shut down due to this natural disaster […]
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