Politics of Myanmar
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Template:Politics of Myanmar Country name:
- conventional long form: Union of Myanmar
- conventional short form: Myanmar
- 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
Data code: BM
Government type: military regime
Capital: Rangoon (regime refers to the capital as Yangon)
Administrative divisions: 7 divisions* (tine-mya, singular - tine) and 7 states (pyi'nč-mya, singular - pyi'nč); Chin State, Ayeyarwady*, Bago*, Kachin State, Kayin State, Kayah State, Magway*, Mandalay*, Mon State, Rakhine State, Sagaing*, Shan State, Tanintharyi*, Yangon*
Independence: January 4, 1948 (from the United Kingdom)
National holiday: Independence Day, January 4 (1948)
Constitution: January 3 1974 (suspended since September 18 1988); national convention started on January 9 1993 to draft a new constitution; chapter headings and three of 15 sections have been approved
Legal system: does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
- chief of state: Prime Minister and Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Senior General Than Shwe (since April 23 1992); note - the prime minister is both the chief of state and head of government
- head of government: Prime Minister and Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Gen. Than Shwe (since April 23 1992); note - the prime minister is both the chief of state and head of government
- cabinet: State Peace and Development Council (SPDC); military junta, so named November 15 1997, which initially assumed power September 18 1988 under the name State Law and Order Restoration Council; the SPDC oversees the cabinet
- elections: none; the prime minister assumed power upon resignation of the former prime minister
Vice-chairman of SPDC: Maung Aye Prime minister: Soe Win Defence minister: Than Shwe Foreign minister: Nyan Win Home affairs minister: Tin Hlaing
Legislative branch: unicameral People's Assembly or Pyithu Hluttaw (485 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
- elections: last held May 27 1990, but Assembly never convened
- election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NLD 396, NUP 10, other 79
Judicial branch: limited; remnants of the British-era legal system in place, but there is no guarantee of a fair public trial; the judiciary is not independent of the executive
Political parties and leaders: National League for Democracy or NLD (Aung Shwe, chairman, Aung San Suu Kyi, general secretary); National Unity Party or NUP (proregime) (Tha Khaw); Union Solidarity and Development Association or USDA (proregime, a social and political organization) (Than Aung, general secretary); and eight minor legal parties
Political pressure groups and leaders: All Burma Student Democratic Front or ABSDF; Kachin Independence Army or KIA; Karen National Union or KNU; National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma or NCGUB (Dr. Sein Win) consists of individuals legitimately elected to the People's Assembly but not recognized by the military regime; the group fled to a border area and joined with insurgents in December 1990 to form a parallel government; several Shan factions; United Wa State Army or UWSA
International organization participation: AsDB, ASEAN, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
See also
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