The National Democratic Force (NDF) is a political party in
Myanmar
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
(Burma). It was founded by former members of the
National League for Democracy
The National League for Democracy (, ; Abbreviation, abbr. NLD; Burmese abbr. ဒီချုပ်) is a deregistered liberal democratic political party in Myanmar (formerly Burma). It became the country's ruling party after a landslide victo ...
(NLD) who disagreed with the party leadership's decision to boycott the 2010 general election.
History
The National Democratic Force (NDF) was founded in June 2010 by Khin Maung Swe, Than Nyein, Thein Nyunt, and Win Naing, all of whom were prominent members of the NLD. They formed the party after the NLD executive committee refused to register with the
Union Election Commission
The Union Election Commission (, abbreviated UEC) is the national level electoral commission of Myanmar (Burma), responsible for organising and overseeing elections in Burma, as well as vetting parliamentary candidates and political parties.
...
(UEC) and announced the NLD's intention to boycott the 2010 general election.
The NDF was among the three
political parties
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
, together with the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and the National Unity Party (NUP), to stand in the 2010 general election on a nationwide basis.
The NDF's adoption of the peasant bamboo hat, which is a symbol traditionally used by the NLD, created some controversy. After the 2010 election, Thein Nyunt and Kyi Myint, members of the Pyithu Hluttaw, and Phone Myint Aung, a member of the Amyotha Hluttaw, split from the party and set up the New National Democracy Party.
In December 2011, another member of the Amyotha Hluttaw Myat Nyana Soe, resigned from the party and joined the NLD. After the 2012 by-elections, two NDF MPs, Than Win and Khin Maung Win, also rejoined the NLD.
Party co-founder Than Nyein died of liver cancer at Pinlon Hospital in Yangon on 21 May 2014.
The NDF contested 275 constituencies in the 2015 general election, but failed to win a single seat.
In the aftermath of the military coup on 1 February 2021, the NDF collaborated with the new military junta, and party chairman Khin Maung Swe accepted a position in the
State Administration Council
The State Administration Council (; abbreviated SAC or နစက) is the military junta currently governing Myanmar, established by Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Min Aung Hlaing following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, February 2021 c ...
.
Ideology and beliefs
The NDF claims to be a social liberal party that seeks to promote individual freedoms and a
market economy
A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production, and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand. The major characteristic of a mark ...
with state
regulation
Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. Fo ...
. The party has stated that it supports civil and
human rights
Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...
, the resolution of
ethnic
An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...
political issues, and the development of
liberal democracy
Liberal democracy, also called Western-style democracy, or substantive democracy, is a form of government that combines the organization of a democracy with ideas of liberalism, liberal political philosophy. Common elements within a liberal dem ...
and
civil society
Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere. and some of its prominent members have expressed their support for the ultranationalist''Ma Ba Tha'' organization. The NDF also backs the State Administration Council, the military junta which seized power in the aftermath of the 2021 military coup.
Leadership
Current
Former
* Than Nyein, Chairman of the Central Executive Committee (2010–2014)
* Khin Maung Swe Chairman of the Central Executive Committee(2014-2021)
* Win Naing Chairman of the Central Executive Committee(2021)
* Kyaw Thu Ya, Central Youth Leader (2012–2015)
* Kyaw Htet, Cnetral Youth Leader(2015-2019)