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Politics
Since
1948 there have been several coups in Myanmar. Up until the coup of 1948,
Myanmar followed the guidelines of its constitution regarding governance.
Then in 1962, that government was removed and a new constitution was
implemented in 1974. Until its suspension by a military coup in 1988, the
new constitution was the basis for the government.
Once
the military took power, until elections took place they established a State Law
and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) to govern Myanmar. When the
elections did take place in 1990, the SLORC was soundly defeated but refused to
turn over control of the government to the incumbent civilian party until they
had written a new constitution. To aid them in this, they started a
convention to help in writing the constitution and those civilian winners not
jailed were asked to participate along with delegates selected by the SLORC.
Even after years of sporadic meetings since 1993, a constitution has yet to be
written.
Britain
conquered Burma over a period of 62 years (1824-1886) and
incorporated it into its Indian Empire. Burma was
administered as a province of India until 1937 when it
became a separate, self-governing colony; independence
from the Commonwealth was attained in 1948. Gen. NE WIN
dominated the government from 1962 to 1988, first as
military ruler, then as self-appointed president, and
later as political kingpin. In September 1988, the
military deposed NE WIN and established a new ruling
junta. Despite multiparty legislative elections in 1990
that resulted in the main opposition party - the National
League for Democracy (NLD) - winning a landslide victory,
the junta refused to hand over power. NLD leader and Nobel
Peace Prize recipient AUNG SAN SUU KYI, who was under
house arrest from 1989 to 1995 and 2000 to 2002, was
imprisoned in May 2003 and subsequently transferred to
house arrest. She was finally released in November 2010.
After the ruling junta in August 2007 unexpectedly
increased fuel prices, tens of thousands of Burmese
marched in protest, led by prodemocracy activists and
Buddhist monks. In late September 2007, the government
brutally suppressed the protests, killing at least 13
people and arresting thousands for participating in the
demonstrations. Since then, the regime has continued to
raid homes and monasteries and arrest persons suspected of
participating in the pro-democracy protests. Burma in
early May 2008 was struck by Cyclone Nargis, which claimed
over 138,000 dead and tens of thousands injured and
homeless. Despite this tragedy, the junta proceeded with
its May constitutional referendum, the first vote in Burma
since 1990. Parliamentary elections held in November 2010,
considered flawed by many in the international community,
saw the junta's Union Solidarity and Development Party
garnering over 75% of the seats. Parliament convened in
January 2011 and selected former Prime Minister THEIN SEIN
as president. The vast majority of national-level
appointees named by THEIN SEIN are former or current
military officers.
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Country
name:
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conventional
long form: Union
of Burma
conventional
short form: Burma
local long
form: Pyidaungzu
Myanma Naingngandaw (translated by the US
Government as Union of Myanma and by the Burmese
as Union of Myanmar)
local short
form: Myanma
Naingngandaw
former: Socialist
Republic of the Union of Burma
note:
since
1989 the military authorities in Burma have
promoted the name Myanmar as a conventional name
for their state; the US Government did not adopt
the name, which is a derivative of the Burmese
short-form name Myanma Naingngandaw
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Government
type:
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military regime
(a nominally civilian government has been named,
but a formal transfer of power has not yet taken
place)
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Capital:
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name: Rangoon
(Yangon)
geographic
coordinates: 16
48 N, 96 09 E
time
difference: UTC+6.5
(11.5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during
Standard Time)
note:
Nay
Pyi Taw is the administrative capital
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Administrative
divisions:
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7 divisions (taing-myar,
singular - taing) and 7 states* (pyi ne-myar,
singular - pyi ne)
divisions: Ayeyarwady,
Bago, Magway, Mandalay, Sagaing, Tanintharyi,
Yangon
states: Chin,
Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Mon, Rakhine (Arakan), Shan
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Independence:
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4 January 1948
(from the UK)
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National
holiday:
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Independence
Day, 4 January (1948); Union Day, 12 February
(1947)
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Constitution:
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3 January 1974;
suspended 18 September 1988; a new constitution
was to take effect when the bicameral legislature
convened 31 January 2011, but no announcement has
been made
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Legal
system:
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mixed legal
system of English common law (as introduced in
codifications designed for colonial India) and
customary law
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International
law organization participation:
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has not
submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration;
non-party state to the ICCt
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Suffrage:
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18 years of
age; universal
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Executive
branch:
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chief of state:
President
THEIN SEIN (since 4 February 2011); Vice President
SAI MOUK KHAM (since 3 February 2011); Vice
President TIN AUNG MYINT OO (since 4 February
2011)
head of
government: Prime
Minister THEIN SEIN (since 24 October 2007)
cabinet: cabinet
is appointed by the president and confirmed by the
parliament
elections: THEIN
SEIN elected president by the parliament from
among three vice presidents; the upper house, the
lower house, and military members of the
parliament each nominate one vice president
(president serves a five-year term)
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Legislative
branch:
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bicameral,
consists of the House of Nationalities [Amyotha
Hluttaw] (224 seats, 168 directly elected and 56
appointed by the military; members serve five-year
terms) and the House of Representatives [Pythu
Hluttaw] (440 seats, 330 directly elected and 110
appointed by the military; members serve five-year
terms)
elections: last
held on 7 November 2010 (next to be held in
December 2015)
election
results: House
of Nationalities - percent of vote by party - USDP
74.8%, others (NUP, SNDP, RNDP, NDF, AMRDP) 25.2%;
seats by party - USDP 129, others 39; House of
Representatives - percent of vote by party - USDP
79.6%, others (NUP, SNDP, RNDP, NDF, AMRDP) 20.4%;
seats by party - USDP 259, others 66
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Judicial
branch:
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remnants of the
British-era legal system are in place, but there
is no guarantee of a fair public trial; the
judiciary is not independent of the executive; the
2011 constitution calls for a Supreme Court, a
Courts-Martial, and a Constitutional Tribunal of
the Union
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Political
parties and leaders:
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All Mon Region
Democracy Party or AMRDP [NAING NGWE THEIN];
National Democratic Force or NDF [KHIN MAUNG SWE,
Dr.THAN NYEIN]; National League for Democracy or
NLD [AUNG SHWE, U TIN OO, AUNG SAN SUU KYI]; note
- the party was deregisted because it did not
register for the 2010 election, but it is still
active; National Unity Party or NUP [TUN YE];
Rakhine Nationalities Development Party or RNDP
[Dr. AYE MG]; Shan Nationalities Democratic Party
[SAI AIKE PAUNG]; Shan Nationalities League for
Democracy or SNLD [HKUN HTUN OO]; Union Solidarity
and Development Party or USDP [SHWE MANN, HTAY OO];
numerous smaller parties
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Political
pressure groups and leaders:
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Thai border: Ethnic
Nationalities Council or ENC; Federation of Trade
Unions-Burma or FTUB (exile trade union and labor
advocates); National Coalition Government of the
Union of Burma or NCGUB (self-proclaimed
government in exile) ["Prime Minister"
Dr. SEIN WIN] consists of individuals, some
legitimately elected to the People's Assembly in
1990 (the group fled to a border area and joined
insurgents in December 1990 to form a parallel
government in exile); National Council-Union of
Burma or NCUB (exile coalition of opposition
groups)
Inside Burma: Kachin
Independence Organization or KIO; Karen National
Union or KNU; Karenni National People's Party or
KNPP; Union Solidarity and Development Association
or USDA (pro-regime, a social and political
mass-member organization) [HTAY OO, general
secretary] became the Union Solidarity and
Development Party in 2010; United Wa State Army or
UWSA; 88 Generation Students (pro-democracy
movement); several other Shan factions
note:
freedom
of expression is highly restricted in Burma;
political groups, other than parties approved by
the government, are limited in number
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International
organization participation:
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ADB, ARF, ASEAN,
BIMSTEC, CP, EAS, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO,
ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO,
Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OPCW
(signatory), SAARC (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
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Diplomatic
representation in the US:
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chief of
mission: Ambassador
(vacant); Charge d'Affaires HAN THU; note - Burma
does not have an ambassador to the United States
chancery: 2300
S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1]
(202) 332-3344
FAX: [1]
(202) 332-4351
consulate(s)
general: none;
Burma has a Mission to the UN in New York
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Diplomatic
representation from the US:
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chief of
mission: Charge
d'Affaires Michael E. THURSTON; note - the United
States does not have an ambassador to Burma
embassy: 110
University Avenue, Kamayut Township, Rangoon
mailing
address: Box
B, APO AP 96546
telephone: [95]
(1) 536-509, 535-756, 538-038
FAX: [95]
(1) 650-306
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Flag
description:
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design consists
of three equal horizontal stripes of yellow (top),
green, and red; centered on the green band is a
large white five-pointed star that partially
overlaps onto the adjacent colored stripes; the
design revives the triband colors used by Burma
from 1943-45, during the Japanese occupation
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National
symbol(s):
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chinthe
(mythical lion)
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National
anthem:
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name: "Kaba
Ma Kyei" (Till the End of the World, Myanmar)
lyrics/music: SAYA
TIN
note:
adopted
1948; Burma is among a handful of non-European
nations that have anthems rooted in indigenous
traditions; the beginning portion of the anthem is
a traditional Burmese anthem before transitioning
into a Western-style orchestrated work
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