The 2012 Myanmar by-elections were held on 1 April 2012. The elections were held to fill 48 vacant parliamentary seats. Three of those remained vacant as polling in three Kachin constituencies was postponed. There was no plan to fill the additional five seats cancelled in the 2010 election and one seat vacated after the decease of a RNDP member.
The main opposition party National League for Democracy was re-registered for the by-elections on 13 December 2011 as part of the
reforms in Burma
Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...
since 2010. It won in 43 of the 44 seats they contested (out of 45 available). Its leader
Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi (; ; born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as State Counsellor of Myanmar (equivalent to a prime minister) and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2 ...
ran for the seat of
Kawhmu
Kawmhu Township ( my, ကော့မှူး မြို့နယ် ) is a township of Yangon Region, Myanmar. It is located in the southwestern section of the Region. Kawhmu was one of the townships in Yangon Region most affected by Cyclon ...
, and won.
Changes during the term of office
House of Representatives
*9 September 2011: Tun Aung Khaing (USDP) replaced Aung Kyaw Zan (RNDP) who had been removed from office.
*1 March 2012: Aung Sein Tha (RNDP, Arakan State's Minbya constituency) died in office and was not replaced.
House of Nationalities
*28 January 2012: Bogyi a.k.a. Aung Ngwe (USDP, Sagaing Division constituency 2) died in office and was not replaced.
*2012: Phone Myint Aung (Rangoon Division constituency 3) left the NDF to join the NNDP.
*5 February 2013: Tin Shwe (NDF, Rangoon Division constituency 6) resigned from his seat to become a Hotels and Tourism Deputy Minister and was not replaced.
*2013: Maung Sa Pru (RNDP, Arakan State constituency 4) died in office and was not replaced.
Election observers
In February 2012, President Thein Sein remarked that the government would "seriously consider" allowing Southeast Asian observers from the
Association of South East Asian Nations
ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, mili ...
to observe the election. The Burmese government confirmed that it had requested for ASEAN election observers to arrive on 28 March, five days before the election. Canada, United States, European Union, China, and North Korea, as well as ASEAN dialogue partners (India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and Australia), were also invited to observe the election, although it remained unclear the degree of access these international observers were to have. The United States sent two election observers and three journalists.
On 13 March 2012, the Union Election Commission approved political party monitors to monitor polling stations during the election. In the previous election, only
Union Solidarity and Development Party
The Union Solidarity and Development Party ( my, ပြည်ထောင်စုကြံ့ခိုင်ရေးနှင့် ဖွံ့ဖြိုးရေးပါတီ; abbr. USDP) is a political party in Myanmar, registered on ...
monitors had been allowed to observe the elections and ballot counts. A civilian-led monitoring group, including members of the
88 Generation Students Group
The 88 Generation Students ( my, ၈၈ မျိုးဆက် ကျောင်းသားများ) is a Burmese pro-democracy movement known for their activism against the country's military junta. Many of its members were imprisoned ...
, also scrutinised election irregularities.
On 28 March 2012, Canada's
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
Global Affairs Canada (GAC; french: Affaires mondiales Canada; AMC)''Global Affairs Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (). is the department o ...
Consiglio Di Nino
Consiglio Di Nino (born January 24, 1938) is a Canadian businessman and former Senate of Canada senator from 1990 to 2012.
Early life and career
Born in Italy, Di Nino immigrated to Canada with his family at the age of 13. He attended St Michae ...
Deepak Obhrai
Deepak Obhrai (July 5, 1950 – August 2, 2019) was a Tanzania-born Canadian politician, representing the riding of Calgary East (until 2015) and Forest Lawn (from 2015) for the Reform Party of Canada and then the Conservative Party of Canada ...
.
Pre-election controversies
Aung Din of the
US Campaign for Burma
{{Democracy movements in Burma
The United States Campaign for Burma (USCB) is a U.S.-based membership organization that evolved out of the Free Burma Coalition founded by Maung Zarni. Founders were Jack Healey, who provided fiscal sponsorship to ...
said that the Burmese government was exploiting the elections to have
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
sanctions lifted as quickly as possible, since a free and transparent election had been one of the conditions set by the European Union and American governments. Moreover, the National League for Democracy has pointed out irregularities in voter lists and rule violations by local election committees. On 21 March 2012,
Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi (; ; born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as State Counsellor of Myanmar (equivalent to a prime minister) and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2 ...
was quoted as saying "Fraud and rule violations are continuing and we can even say they are increasing."
With regard to the invitations of international election observers, a
US State Department
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nat ...
spokesperson said that the Burmese government fell short of expectations to accommodate observers during the entirety of the campaign season (as typically done), which is nearing the end, as a select number of observers were allowed only to observe the election:
Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL), a Bangkok-based election monitoring organisation, has publicly called the election observations inadequate, failing to meet international standards, being too restrictive (only two observers are allowed per government, or five for ASEAN nations), and coming too late (invitations were sent less than two weeks before the election date), all of which make it logistically impossible to monitor all 48 polling stations. On 20 March 2012, Somsri Hananuntasuk, executive director of ANFREL, was deported from Yangon, purportedly for entering the country on a tourist visa.
On 23 March 2012, the three by-elections in Kachin State, namely in the constituencies of Mogaung,
Hpakant
Hpakant ( my, ဖားကန့်, ; Shan Language: ၽႃၵၢၼ်ႉ, also Hpakan and Phakant) is a town in Hpakant Township, Kachin State of the northernmost part of Myanmar (Burma). It is located on the Uyu River 350 km north of M ...
and
Bhamo Township
Bhamo Township ( my, ဗန်းမော်မြို့နယ်) is a township of Bhamo District in the Kachin State of Burma. The principal town is Bhamo.
Towns and villages
*Asin
* Aw-ka-tha
* Awngsa
* Bansak
*Bhamo
* Bodewa
* Budaung
* ...
s, were postponed due to the security situation there.
Two days before the by-elections, at press conference, Suu Kyi remarked that the voter irregularities were "beyond what is acceptable for democratic elections," said she did not consider the campaign "genuinely free and fair" and referred to acts of intimidation (such as stone-throwing incidents and vandalism) toward party members. On 1 April, the opposition National League for Democracy alleged irregularities, claiming that ballot sheets had been tampered to allow the election commission to cancel the vote for Suu Kyi's party.
Two Australian MPs (
Janelle Saffin
Janelle Anne Saffin (born 1 November 1954) is an Australian Labor Party politician. She has been the Member for Lismore in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly since 23 March 2019. She was the Member for Page in the Australian House of Repr ...
and
Mathias Cormann
Mathias Hubert Paul Cormann (; ; born 20 September 1970) is a Belgian-born Australian politician and diplomat who currently serves as Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), having assumed the off ...
), who were selected to observe the by-elections as part of Australia's monitoring team, were denied visas to enter the country.
Aftermath
Much of the international reaction on the by-elections revolved around the sanctions imposed by
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
countries (including the United States, Australia, and the European Union). President Thein Sein and the Burmese government were eager to work with Aung San Suu Kyi to remove these measures.
President Thein Sein remarked that the by-elections were conducted "in a very successful manner."
The
Union Solidarity and Development Party
The Union Solidarity and Development Party ( my, ပြည်ထောင်စုကြံ့ခိုင်ရေးနှင့် ဖွံ့ဖြိုးရေးပါတီ; abbr. USDP) is a political party in Myanmar, registered on ...
said it would lodge official complaints to the Union Election Commission on poll irregularities, voter intimidation, and purported campaign incidents that involved National League for Democracy members and supporters. The National League for Democracy also sent an official complaint to the commission, regarding ballots that it claimed had been tampered with wax.
In response to the by-elections, a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman said:
ASEAN
ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military ...
leaders, including those from
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...
, Malaysia, and Indonesia, called for the immediate removal of sanctions. Singapore's Prime Minister said the following: "President Thein Sein has been much bolder than many observers have expected. ASEAN is happy that Myanmar has been able to take these steps forward." Australia's foreign minister,
Bob Carr
Robert John Carr (born 28 September 1947) is an Australian retired politician and journalist who served as the 39th Premier of New South Wales from 1995 to 2005, as the leader of the NSW Branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He later en ...
, said the Australian government was planning to loosen sanctions, but not abolish them altogether.
US Senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and power ...
John McCain, who had met with Aung San Suu Kyi in January 2012, said:
On 4 April 2012, the Obama administration announced that it would nominate an
ambassador
An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...
to the country and ease some travel and finance restrictions, without specifying a time table.Secretary of StateHillary Clinton said of the elections:
To normalise diplomatic relations between the countries, she also said that following the nomination of an ambassador, the US would establish
USAID
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...
mission in Burma, ease restrictions on export of finance services and developmental assistance and facilitate travel for some government officials, although targeted sanctions toward "individuals and institutions that remain on the wrong side of these historic reform efforts" would remain in place. A few sanctions (in the financial, agriculture, tourism and telecommunications sectors), are directly controlled by the executive branch, but most of the imposed sanctions were legislated by Congress, and were to take a lengthy process to remove. On 6 April 2012, the Obama administration nominated Derek Mitchell, who was then serving as the American special envoy to Burma, as United States Ambassador to Burma.
The European Union, which had already eased some sanctions and travel restrictions (including on Thein Sein), agreed to review travel bans and asset freezes on individuals tied to the previous ruling junta, the State Peace and Development Council on 23 April 2012. UK Foreign Secretary William Hague suggested that easing of restrictions would be contingent on the release of political prisoners and further progress.
Other scholars noted that the by-elections, which were a relatively minor event, given the number of seats at stake, were not as defining and important as other steps toward national reconciliation. Some called removal of sanctions premature, while others considered sanctions ineffective in the reform process.
Results
House of Nationalities
Six of the 224 seats in the
Amyotha Hluttaw
The Amyotha Hluttaw ( my, အမျိုးသားလွှတ်တော်, ; House of Nationalities) is the ''de jure'' upper house of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, the bicameral legislature of Myanmar (Burma). It consists of 224 members ...
(House of Nationalities) were up for election. A by-election was not held in one remaining vacant seat, with this seat instead continuing to remain vacant until the 2015 General Election.
House of Representatives
37 of the 440 seats in the
Pyithu Hluttaw
The Pyithu Hluttaw ( my, ပြည်သူ့ လွှတ်တော်, ; House of Representatives) is the ''de jure'' lower house of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, the bicameral legislature of Myanmar (Burma). It consists of 440 members, of whic ...
(House of Representatives) were up for election. By-elections were not held in seven remaining vacant seats, with these seats instead continuing to remain vacant until the 2015 General Election.
, -
, style="text-align:left;" colspan="2", Total, , 40, , , , , , , , 100, , 100, , , ,
, -
, style="text-align:left;" colspan="10", Source ALTSEAN Burma , -
State and Regional Hluttaws
2 of the 860 seats in the
State and Regional Hluttaws
Myanmar ( also known as ''Burma'') is divided into twenty-one administrative subdivisions, which include seven states (; ''pyi ne'', ), seven regions (; ''taing detha gyi'', ), five self-administered zones and one self-administered division (Wa ...
Pyapon
Pyapon ( my, ဖျာပုံမြို့; Mon: , ) is a town and seat of Pyapon District in the Ayeyarwady Division of Myanmar, along the Pyapon River, a tributary of the Ayeyarwady River. It is located about inland from the Andaman Se ...
Htantabin Township
Htantabin Township ( my, ထန်းတပင် မြို့နယ်, ) is a township located on the western border of central Yangon Region, Burma (Myanmar). Its administrative seat is Htantabin which is located in the southeastern part ...
s make up Constituency No. 7.
Magway Region
Sagaing Region
Kanbalu
Kanbalu (also spelt Kantbalu Myanmar's NET) is a town in
Wuntho
Wuntho ( my, ဝန်းသို) or Waing Hso ( shn, ဝဵင်းသိူဝ်) was a native state of Upper Burma when Burma (Myanmar), was under British control. It had an area of around with 150,000 inhabitants and lay midway betwee ...
Lashio
Lashio ( ; Shan: ) is the largest town in northern Shan State, Myanmar, about north-east of Mandalay. It is situated on a low mountain spur overlooking the valley of the Yaw River. Loi Leng, the highest mountain of the Shan Hills, is located ...
Hsenwi
Theinni or Hsenwi ( shn, ; my, သိန္နီ, ; th, แสนหวี, , ) is a town in northern Shan State of Burma, situated near the north bank of the Nam Tu River and now the centre of Hsenwi Township in Lashio District. It is nor ...
and
Kunlong Township
Kunlong Township is a township of Lashio District (formerly part of Kunlong District) in Shan State, Burma. The main town is Kunlong
Kunlong ( my, ကွမ်းလုံ) is the capital town of Kunlong Township in Shan State. its coordin ...
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gath ...
Elections
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...