The Elders Congratulate Aung San Suu Kyi Ahead of Her Appearance in Parliament in Burma/Myanmar

The Elders congratulate Aung San Suu Kyi ahead of her first appearance in the Burma/Myanmar parliament, following her election in the 1 April by-elections. They hope her access to political office will further boost political, economic and social reform in Burma/Myanmar […]

NLD’s Victory A Step Forward But Sanctions Must be Maintained Until Genuine Reforms Under Way

The past week has seen much celebrating from people throughout Burma and around the world over the election of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and 42 additional members of the National League for Democracy. These results marked a moment of excitement and hope for the people of Burma. However, the many irregularities in the process and the continued numerous restrictions on people’s fundamental freedoms demonstrate that a great deal more progress needs to be made on Burma’s path towards genuine democracy.

As Soe Aung, Deputy Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Forum for Democracy in Burma, noted in an opinion piece earlier this week, “[G]enuine change must be defined by bold institutional, legislative and policy reforms that can decisively create a truly democratic, inclusive and accountable government based on the rule of law and respect for all human rights. For the majority of people in Burma, there has been little real change. The quasi-civilian administration has made small gestures calculated to generate maximum excitement in the international community with minimum cost to high-ranking officials and their cronies.” […]

Election Monitoring Re port No.1

The April 1 by-election generally went well. People could genuinely express their own voices through their own votes. While the process was significantly peaceful in all the 45 contested constituencies with a total of 158 candidates, some irregularities […]

Burma’s By-Elections Results ‘A Step Forward, But There Is Still a Long Way to Go’

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), a UK-based human rights group, has told the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net) that it welcomes the results of yesterday’s parliamentary by-elections in Burma, as preliminary reports indicated that Nobel Peace Prize […]

Recognizing and Supporting Burma’s Democratic Reforms

From the beginning of this Administration, we have pursued a policy of engagement to support human rights and reform in Burma. We knew that the challenges were great, but we also believed that a new approach was needed to support the aspirations of the people […]

AIPMC Welcomes Election of NLD Members to Myanmar’s Parliament but Warns that Lifting of Sanctions Poses a Threat to Reform Process

The ASEAN Inter Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) today congratulated the people of Myanmar on the successful exercising of their democratic rights in Sunday’s by election but warned the international community that the lifting of sanctions […]

Statement on Myanmar By-Elections (April 1, 2012)

The by-elections in Myanmar marks a historic phase in the country’s transition towards democracy and ANFREL-Foundation takes this opportunity to congratulate the people of Myanmar. The byelections were extremely significant to sustain the reforms process […]

“A Step Towards Step One in Democracy”

“We won, we won” was the chant that resonated throughout the streets of Rangoon all night yesterday and waking up this morning had an unprecedented taste of joy and hope for the people of Burma. It is the “triumph of the people who have decided that they have to be involved in the political process in this country,” said Daw Aung San Suu Kyi today after the NLD claimed it has won 43 seats out of the 45 contested. Reports still vary and the official results will only be known later this week, after the Union Election Commission confirms them. In yesterday’s by-elections, more than six million people were eligible to vote, 160 candidates from 17 parties were contesting 45 parliamentary seats.

“A step towards step one in democracy” is how Daw Suu qualified the by-elections, reminding the world that even with the NLD wining yesterday, Burma is not a democracy yet but just slowly starting a fragile transition process in which genuine irreversible reforms need to replace the superficial changes done so far. As Burma Campaign UK outlined in a briefer released this week, “By-elections don’t mean Burma is free” […]

Urgent Reforms Are the Real litmus Test of Government’s Commitment to Change

In the lead-up to the by-elections on 1 April, which are already marred by irregularities and censorship [1], rights groups have stressed that key benchmarks have not yet been met. The international community must press for urgent steps to meet these benchmarks […]

Burma’s Democracy Movement Enters into the New Playing Field by Winning at least 39 Seats in the By-Lection, Yet Still Full of Landmines, Barriers, and Biased-Referees

Burma’s democracy leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said during a press conference on March 30, 2012 “What has been happening in this country is really beyond what is acceptable for a democratic election. Still, we are determined to go forward because we think that is what our people want […]