Myanmar 2014: Civic Knowledge and Values in a Changing Society

After decades of military rule and isolation, a new Asia Foundation survey shows Myanmar’s citizens are hopeful about the future – on elections, respondents say they believe in exercising their right to vote: 77 percent say that voting can lead to improvements in the future, just 10 percent say things will not change no matter how one votes. But this optimism is tempered by challenges that remain. The findings reveal limited knowledge among the public about government institutions and their functions, low level of social trust, a high degree of political polarization, and deep apprehension about economic opportunities.

Not a Rubber Stamp: Myanmar’s Legislature in a Time of Transition

Myanmar’s new legislature, the Union Assembly formed in 2011 on the basis of elections the previous year, has turned out to be far more vibrant and influential than expected. Both its lower and upper houses have a key role in driving the transition process through the enactment and amendment of legislation needed to reform the outdated legal code and are acting as a real check on the power of the executive.

Yet, some bills moving through the legislature have raised concerns that the authorities, both legislative and executive, may not be ready to give up authoritarian controls on the media, on civil society organisations and on the right to demonstrate. More broadly, the role of the 25 per cent military bloc and its impact on the legislature have been questioned. Serious individual and institutional capacity constraints and unclear procedures serve as a brake on effective, efficient lawmaking […]

Not a Rubber Stamp: Myanmar’s Legislature in a Time of Transition

In its latest briefing, Not a Rubber Stamp: Myanmar’s Legislature in a Time of Transition, the International Crisis Group looks at Myanmar’s Union Assembly, formed in 2011 and the first independent such body the country has seen in half a century. Both its lower and upper houses have shown some strengths and are important drivers of the transition process. However, they sometimes struggle to develop technically sound and democratically oriented laws […]

Democracy Will Remain Illusory Unless Burma’s Oppressive Laws Are Repealed

This past week United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burma, Tomás Ojea Quintana, conducted a 6-day visit in the country to assess the human rights situation in light of recent developments. At the end of his visit, he delivered a statement in which, among other things, he underlines the necessity of further legislative reforms.

At the end of last year, the regime adopted the new Labor Organizations Law and the Peaceful Demonstration and Gathering Law. However, as noted by Quintana in the statement he delivered on Sunday, concerns remain about these laws […]