Thein Sein Government

YANGON (Myanmar Now) – A newspaper published by the former ruling party of ex-generals has claimed that crime has sharply risen under the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, and that her efforts to impose rule of law have failed. The Union Daily, a little-read publication owned by the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), said in an…

YANGON (Myanmar Now) – Shortly after newly elected President Htin Kyaw completed a swearing-in ceremony in Myanmar’s parliament on Wednesday morning, the country’s new leader, a ‘proxy’ of National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, headed to the Presidential Residence in Naypyitaw. In its stately diplomatic hall, Htin Kyaw met outgoing President Thein Sein. An aired video recording…

YANGON (Myanmar Now) — When Myanmar’s current parliament first convened in 2011 following a flawed general election, most observers and opposition members expected it to be a rubber stamp for the army and the newly installed civilian government of ex-generals. As with so much of Myanmar’s democratic transition, its performance has been a surprise. Lawmakers soon began to actively debate,…

The people of Burma will vote in the country’s national elections on Sunday November 8. In the build-up to the election international onlookers were concerned that a National League for Democracy (NLD) candidate was stabbed with a machete at a campaign event in Yangon, many citizens had been removed from voter lists, religious intolerance in Rakhine State and that many…

The Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement signing ceremony on Oct 15 was Thein Sein’s big chance to add some much-needed credence to the national elections to be held next Sunday. But despite Thein Sein and Gen Mutu Sae Po’s optimism, not everyone is convinced the NCA will bring stability to the country. In fact, ethnic groups say fighting continues unabated, killing civilians…

Since coming to power in 2011, President Thein Sein, a former general, has initiated a plan to resolve Burma’s decades-long ethnic conflict as part of broader domestic reform programs. Burma observers, both inside and outside, agree that resolving ethnic conflict is central to the success of political reform and lasting peace in the country. Among other things, President Thein Sein…

A Thai construction company began their works on a second Maesot-Myawaddy Friendship Bridge project on the Thai side of the border in early June. Local residents on the Thai side of the River Moei that separates Burma from Thailand said large earth moving machinery began leveling the ground, surveyors measured land while concrete workers started on the bridge supports. A…

The Burma government continued its crackdown on political activists with the February arrest of two union leaders who demanded a $1 pay rise for garment workers. The Burma Campaign UK, on the eve of May Day, called for the “immediate and unconditional release of two union leaders, Naing Htay Lwin and Myo Min Min.” The Rangoon based union leaders were…

The advocacy group, Burma Campaign UK released a statement that “welcomed a new report by the British government,” that acknowledged ‘Burma’s reforms process was ‘of significant concern. The Burma Campaign UK said that the British government’s “admission came in the annual human rights report by the British Foreign Office, following a months’ long campaign by Burma Campaign UK to persuade…

A campaign by the Burma Campaign UK is trying to highlight ongoing human rights abuses in Burma. To make its point, Burma Campaign has delivered more than 2,000 rose-tinted glasses, and issued photo petitions to the British Foreign Office to put pressure on the British government to a “return to putting human rights as their top priority in Burma,” the…