Pyidaungsu Hluttaw
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The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw ( , ) is the ''de jure'' national-level
bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate Deliberative assembly, assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate ...
legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...
of
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 ...
established by the 2008 National Constitution. The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw is made up of two houses, the 224-seat
Amyotha Hluttaw The Amyotha Hluttaw (, ; House of Nationalities) is the ''de jure'' upper house of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, the bicameral legislature of Myanmar (Burma). It consists of 224 members, of which 168 are directly elected and 56 appointed by the Myan ...
, or "House of Nationalities," and the 440-seat
Pyithu Hluttaw The Pyithu Hluttaw (, ; 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 which 330 are directly elected through the first-past-the ...
, or House of People's Representatives. There is no mention in the 2008 Constitution of any ‘lower’ or ‘upper’ houses: both the Pyithu Hluttaw and the Amyotha Hluttaw enjoy equal power to initiate, review, amend, and pass legislation. Each of the fourteen major administrative regions and states has its own local Hluttaw: Region Hluttaw (Region Assembly) or State Hluttaw (State Assembly). Members of the second Pyidaungsu Hluttaw were elected in the 8 November 2015 general election. On 16 March 2012, parliamentarians made the decision for the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw to re-join the IPU. After the coup d'état on 1 February 2021, the Assembly was dissolved by Acting
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
Myint Swe Myint Swe (; ; born 5 June 1950) is a Burmese politician and retired army officer who has been Vice President of Myanmar since 30 March 2016 and previously served as Acting President of Myanmar from 1 February 2021 to 22 July 2024. He also s ...
, who declared a one-year
state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...
and transferred all legislative powers to Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services
Min Aung Hlaing Min Aung Hlaing (born 3 July 1956) is a Burmese army general who has ruled Myanmar as the chairman of the State Administration Council, chairman of the State Administration Council (SAC) since seizing power in the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, Fe ...
.


Building

The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw is currently housed in a 31-building parliamentary complex in Naypyidaw. The complex was constructed by ACE Construction, owned by Tint San. It is believed to represent the 31 planes of existence in
Buddhist cosmology Buddhist cosmology is the description of the shape and evolution of the Universe according to Buddhist Tripitaka, scriptures and Atthakatha, commentaries. It consists of a temporal and a spatial cosmology. The temporal cosmology describes the ...
, located in Zeya Theddhi Ward of
Naypyidaw Naypyidaw (), officially Romanization of Burmese, romanized as Nay Pyi Taw (NPT), is the capital city, capital and third-largest city of Myanmar. The city is located at the centre of the Naypyidaw Union Territory. It is unusual among Myanmar's ...
. The
2025 Myanmar earthquake On 28 March 2025 at 12:50:52 Myanmar Time, MMT (06:20:52 UTC), a 7.7–7.9 earthquake struck the Sagaing Region of Myanmar, with an epicenter close to Mandalay, the country's second-largest city. The strike-slip shock achieved a maximum Modif ...
on 28 March significantly damaged the complex.


History


Pre-colonial era

The Royal Cabinet or Hluttaw ( , lit. "delegation of royal uties) historically refers to the council of ministers in the king's court in pre-colonial Burma (Myanmar). Hluttaw's origins trace back to the Pagan era when King Htilominlo (r. 1211–1235) created a royal cabinet of senior ministers to manage the day-to-day affairs of the government. During the
Konbaung dynasty The Konbaung dynasty (), also known as the Third Burmese Empire (တတိယမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်), was the last dynasty that ruled Burma from 1752 to 1885. It created the second-largest empire in history of Mya ...
, the hluttaw was the centre of government and the kingdom's national administrative body, divided into three branches, namely fiscal, executive, and judicial (the word ''hluttaw'' was originally refers to the cabinet but since the colonial times, hluttaw has been used to describe a parliament or legislative body.) The Byedaik () or Privy Council maintaining the inner affairs of the royal court, whereas the Hluttaw managed the kingdom's administrition. The Hluttaw, as tradition, also had the duty of selecting the heir-apparent, whenever the incumbent king did not select one. In the Konbaung dynasty, the Hluttaw was in session for 6 hours daily, from 6 to 9 am, and from noon to 3 pm, attended by ministers (, ''Mingyi''), ministers of third rank (, '' Wundauk''), and head clerks (, ''Sayegyi''), as well as interior ministers (, ''Atwin Wun''), who sat in the Byedaik. It was tradition for the king to appoint four ministers, four interior ministers and four officers.


British Burma

On 2 January 1923, with the enactment of the
Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms The Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms or more concisely the Mont–Ford Reforms, were introduced by the colonial government to introduce self-governing institutions gradually in British India. The reforms take their name from Edwin Montagu, the Sec ...
, Burma became a Governor's Province with a partially elected legislative council, the
Legislative Council of Burma The Legislative Council of Burma was the legislative body of British Burma from 1897 to 1936. Establishment It was established in 1897 as an advisory council to the British colonial governor, the Lieutenant-Governor of Burma, in drafting legisla ...
, consisting of 103 seats, with 80 filled by election. The Government of Burma Act 1935 ( 26 Geo. 5 & 1 Edw. 8. c. 3) established the Legislature of Burma. During this period, the colonial Legislature consisted of two chambers, the 36-seat Senate and the 132-seat House of Representatives.


Union of Burma

From 1947 to 1962, under the 1947 Constitution, Burma's legislature, called the
Union Parliament The Union Parliament () was the bicameral legislature of the Union of Burma from 1948 to 1962, when it was disbanded by the Union Revolutionary Council. It consisted of an upper house, the Chamber of Nationalities and a lower house, the Chamb ...
, consisted of two chambers, the 125-seat Lumyozu Hluttaw (the Chamber of Nationalities) and the 250-seat
Pyithu Hluttaw The Pyithu Hluttaw (, ; 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 which 330 are directly elected through the first-past-the ...
; (the Chamber of Deputies), whose seat numbers were determined by the population size of respective constituencies.


Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma

From 1962 to 1974, there was no functional ''hluttaw'' in existence, as the ruling government was the socialist
Union Revolutionary Council The Union Revolutionary Council (), officially the Revolutionary Council of the Union of Burma () or simply the Revolutionary Council (RC; ), was the supreme governing body of Burma (now Myanmar) from 2 March 1962, following the overthrow of U N ...
(RC). From 1974 to 1988, under the 1974 Constitution, Burma's legislative branch was a
one-party A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a governance structure in which only a single political party controls the ruling system. In a one-party state, all opposition parties are either outlawed or en ...
toy parliament A rubber stamp is a list of political metaphors, political metaphor, referring to a person or institution with considerable ''de jure'' power but little ''de facto'' power — one that rarely or never disagrees with more powerful organizations. ...
consisting of a
unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...
chamber, the
Pyithu Hluttaw The Pyithu Hluttaw (, ; 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 which 330 are directly elected through the first-past-the ...
(the People's Assembly), represented by members of the
Burma Socialist Programme Party The Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) was the ruling party of Burma (now Myanmar) from 1962 to 1988 and the country's sole legal party from 1964 to 1988. Party chairman Ne Win overthrew the country's democratically elected government i ...
. Each term was four years. (In August 2010, the old Hluttaw complex on
Yangon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...
's
Pyay Road Pyay Road (, formerly Prome Road) is a major thoroughfare of Yangon, Burma and the first stage of the National Highway 1 (Burma), National Highway 1 which eventually leads to Mandalay. It crosses the western-central side of the city in a north– ...
used by Gen.
Ne Win Ne Win (; ; 24 May 1911 – 5 December 2002), born Shu Maung (; ), was a Burmese army general, politician and Prime Minister of Burma from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1974, and also President of Burma from 1962 to 1981. Ne Win was Burma's mili ...
's
military government A military government is any government that is administered by a military, whether or not this government is legal under the laws of the jurisdiction at issue or by an occupying power. It is usually administered by military personnel. Types of m ...
was slated for occupation by
Yangon Division Yangon Region (, ; formerly Rangoon Division and Yangon Division) is an administrative region of Myanmar. Located in central Myanmar, the region is bordered by Bago Region to the north and east, the Gulf of Martaban to the south, and Ayeyarwady ...
government offices.)


Union of Myanmar

Between 1988 and 2011, there was no functional ''hluttaw'', as the ruling government was the
State Peace and Development Council The State Peace and Development Council ( ; abbreviated SPDC or , ) was the official name of the Military dictatorship, military government of Burma (Myanmar) which, in 1997, succeeded the State Law and Order Restoration Council (; abbrevi ...
.


Composition

The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw is a bicameral body made up of a 440-seat
House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
(''Pyithu Hluttaw'') and the 224-seat House of Nationalities (''Amyotha Hluttaw''). The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw consists of 664 members total. 75% of MPs (498 members) are directly elected by voters, while the remaining 25% (166 members) are military personnel appointed by the Defence Services' Commander-in-Chief. This policy is similar to Indonesia's New Order model (as part of the dwifungsi doctrine), which guaranteed a number of parliamentary seats to military appointees.


Amyotha Hluttaw

The
Amyotha Hluttaw The Amyotha Hluttaw (, ; House of Nationalities) is the ''de jure'' upper house of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, the bicameral legislature of Myanmar (Burma). It consists of 224 members, of which 168 are directly elected and 56 appointed by the Myan ...
is the upper house of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, with 12 seats accorded to each Region or State for a total of 168 directly elected seats. Of the 224 seats in the house, the remaining 56 are military appointees nominated by the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Services.


Pyithu Hluttaw

The
Pyithu Hluttaw The Pyithu Hluttaw (, ; 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 which 330 are directly elected through the first-past-the ...
is the lower house of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, with seats accorded to each of the 330 townships in the country. Of the 440 seats in this body, 330 are directly elected and 110 are military appointees nominated by the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Services.


Elections

Burmese elections are held under
universal suffrage Universal suffrage or universal franchise ensures the right to vote for as many people bound by a government's laws as possible, as supported by the " one person, one vote" principle. For many, the term universal suffrage assumes the exclusion ...
for all Burmese citizens above the age of 18 and on a given
constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...
's roll of eligible voters. Voters are constitutionally guaranteed the right to vote via
secret ballot The secret ballot, also known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous. This forestalls attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vote ...
. However, members of religious orders (including members of the Buddhist
Sangha Sangha or saṃgha () is a term meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community". In a political context, it was historically used to denote a governing assembly in a republic or a kingdom, and for a long time, it has been used b ...
), prisoners, mentally unsound persons, and indebted persons are not allowed to vote for members of Parliament. Voting is not compulsory. Burmese elections practise the
First-past-the-post voting First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or first-preference, and the candidate with more first- ...
system (winner takes all), in which the candidate who receives the highest number of votes is elected. In the 2010 election, state media reported a voter turnout of 77.26%. Advance voting was also widely practised, with military personnel and their family members, as well as civil servants, police force personnel and other state employees instructed to vote in advance. This was in violation of the 2010 electoral laws, which only allow advance voting for eligible voters who are away from their constituencies, as well as overseas Burmese citizens. In some constituencies, up to 95% of cast ballots were done in advance. An estimated 10% of votes (6 million) were cast in advance. There were also reports of multiple voter fraud, voter manipulation, ghost voting and coerced voting, in which individuals were pressured to vote for
Union Solidarity and Development Party The Union Solidarity and Development Party (; abbr. USDP) is an ultranationalist, pro-military political party in Myanmar. Alongside the National League for Democracy, it is one of Myanmar's two principal national parties. USDP is the succe ...
candidates by officials.


Term

The two houses of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw are simultaneously elected, with members of parliament (MPs) serving five-year terms. Ministerial nominees, who are selected from the pool of elected MPs, vacate their parliamentary seats. By-elections, determined by 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. ...
, are held to fill these vacant seats. The first regular session of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw must be convened within 15 days of the commencement of the
Pyithu Hluttaw The Pyithu Hluttaw (, ; 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 which 330 are directly elected through the first-past-the ...
's first session. At least one regular session must be held per year, and subsequent sessions must be held within 12 months of each other. Special or emergency sessions can be convened by the President. Parliamentary sessions are only valid if 25% or more MPs are present. The first session of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw was held from January to March 2011, while the second was held from 22 August 2011 to. Journalists were not allowed to attend the first session. However, the Ministry of Information announced on 12 August 2011 that they would be permitted to attend the second session.


See also

*
Politics of Myanmar Myanmar (Names of Myanmar, formerly Burma) () operates ''de jure'' as a unitary state, unitary assembly-independent republic under its 2008 Constitution of Myanmar, 2008 constitution. On 1 February 2021, Tatmadaw, Myanmar's military took ove ...
*
List of legislatures by country This is a list of legislatures by country. A "legislature" is the generic name for the national parliaments and congresses that act as a plenary general Deliberative assembly, assembly of Representative democracy, representatives and that have th ...
*
State and Region 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 ...


References


External links


Official website of Pyithu Hluttaw
{{Coord, 19, 46, 28, N, 96, 6, 13, E, type:landmark, display=title History of Myanmar (1948–present) Legislatures of Myanmar
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Buildings and structures destroyed by the 2025 Myanmar earthquake