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2010 Myanmar general election
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2010 Myanmar general election
General elections were held in Myanmar on 7 November 2010, in accordance with the new constitution, which was approved in a referendum held in May 2008. The election date was announced by the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) on 13 August.
The elections were the fifth step of the seven-step "roadmap to democracy" proposed by the SPDC in 2003, the sixth and seventh steps being the convening of elected representatives and the building of a modern, democratic nation, respectively. However, the National League for Democracy boycotted the elections. The result was a sweeping victory for the Union Solidarity and Development Party, which won nearly 80% of seats contested across the upper and lower houses. The United Nations expressed concern about the fairness of the elections, and western countries dismissed them as fraudulent.
Due to the strict separation of powers in the constitution, members elected to the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw were automatically disqualified from their seats if they accepted appointment to an executive or judicial body. As a result, many elected members elected were quickly disqualified from their seats after accepting appointment to bodies such as the Cabinet of Myanmar. By-elections to fill 48 vacancies left by such appointments as well as by resignations and deaths were held in April 2012.
Going into the elections, a debate emerged around whether Aung San Suu Kyi would be disqualified from contesting the elections under Article 59F of the new constitution, which banned from the Presidency any person whose spouse or children are foreign citizens. The United Nations, members of ASEAN, and Western nations, however, insisted that the elections would not be credible without the participation of Suu Kyi.
The National League for Democracy (NLD) had set a number of conditions for participating in the poll, including changes to the constitution to reduce the army's influence, international supervision for free and fair polls, and freeing all political prisoners including Suu Kyi. Senior General Than Shwe, leader of the ruling military junta, has pledged to release political prisoners in an amnesty before the election, though he has not stated when this would occur. On 11 August 2009, Suu Kyi was sentenced to imprisonment for three years with hard labour over a trespass incident. This sentence was commuted by the military rulers to further house arrest of eighteen months. The NLD later announced they would not take part in the election due to the election laws.
Key ministries including justice, defence and the interior will remain under the control of the military and under the 2008 constitution, a quarter of the 440 parliament seats will be reserved for the military officials. People holding military positions are not permitted to contest the election; as such, 20 members of the junta, including Prime Minister Thein Sein, retired from their posts to participate in the election.
The first of five election laws was announced in March 2010, concerning the creation of an election commission. The Union Election Commission Law states that the military government will appoint all members of the commission and have the final say over the election results. Members of the commission must be "an eminent person, to have integrity and experience, to be loyal to the state and its citizens". A 17-member election commission was later named, headed by a former military officer.
The second law bans anyone currently serving a prison term from belonging to a political party, and therefore over 2,000 political prisoners will not be able to participate, possibly including Aung San Suu Kyi (depending on whether her house arrest is deemed to fall under the definition of "serving a prison term"). The Political Parties Registration Law also bars members of religious orders, members of insurgent groups 'as defined by the state' and foreigners from joining political parties. This separation of Buddhism and politics is a long-standing feature of Myanmar politics, dating back to before independence, and was incorporated in the 1947 independence Constitution at the request of the monkhood.
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2010 Myanmar general election
General elections were held in Myanmar on 7 November 2010, in accordance with the new constitution, which was approved in a referendum held in May 2008. The election date was announced by the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) on 13 August.
The elections were the fifth step of the seven-step "roadmap to democracy" proposed by the SPDC in 2003, the sixth and seventh steps being the convening of elected representatives and the building of a modern, democratic nation, respectively. However, the National League for Democracy boycotted the elections. The result was a sweeping victory for the Union Solidarity and Development Party, which won nearly 80% of seats contested across the upper and lower houses. The United Nations expressed concern about the fairness of the elections, and western countries dismissed them as fraudulent.
Due to the strict separation of powers in the constitution, members elected to the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw were automatically disqualified from their seats if they accepted appointment to an executive or judicial body. As a result, many elected members elected were quickly disqualified from their seats after accepting appointment to bodies such as the Cabinet of Myanmar. By-elections to fill 48 vacancies left by such appointments as well as by resignations and deaths were held in April 2012.
Going into the elections, a debate emerged around whether Aung San Suu Kyi would be disqualified from contesting the elections under Article 59F of the new constitution, which banned from the Presidency any person whose spouse or children are foreign citizens. The United Nations, members of ASEAN, and Western nations, however, insisted that the elections would not be credible without the participation of Suu Kyi.
The National League for Democracy (NLD) had set a number of conditions for participating in the poll, including changes to the constitution to reduce the army's influence, international supervision for free and fair polls, and freeing all political prisoners including Suu Kyi. Senior General Than Shwe, leader of the ruling military junta, has pledged to release political prisoners in an amnesty before the election, though he has not stated when this would occur. On 11 August 2009, Suu Kyi was sentenced to imprisonment for three years with hard labour over a trespass incident. This sentence was commuted by the military rulers to further house arrest of eighteen months. The NLD later announced they would not take part in the election due to the election laws.
Key ministries including justice, defence and the interior will remain under the control of the military and under the 2008 constitution, a quarter of the 440 parliament seats will be reserved for the military officials. People holding military positions are not permitted to contest the election; as such, 20 members of the junta, including Prime Minister Thein Sein, retired from their posts to participate in the election.
The first of five election laws was announced in March 2010, concerning the creation of an election commission. The Union Election Commission Law states that the military government will appoint all members of the commission and have the final say over the election results. Members of the commission must be "an eminent person, to have integrity and experience, to be loyal to the state and its citizens". A 17-member election commission was later named, headed by a former military officer.
The second law bans anyone currently serving a prison term from belonging to a political party, and therefore over 2,000 political prisoners will not be able to participate, possibly including Aung San Suu Kyi (depending on whether her house arrest is deemed to fall under the definition of "serving a prison term"). The Political Parties Registration Law also bars members of religious orders, members of insurgent groups 'as defined by the state' and foreigners from joining political parties. This separation of Buddhism and politics is a long-standing feature of Myanmar politics, dating back to before independence, and was incorporated in the 1947 independence Constitution at the request of the monkhood.
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