Government
National government
Suu Kyi looks set to win Myanmar election, but problems loom
When Aung San Suu Kyi’s candidate emerges at a campaign rally in southern Myanmar, the crowd bursts into cheers and showers him with flowers, confident that the opposition will prevail this weekend after decades of struggle against military rulers. The scene in the town of Myaungmya, ...
Election brings hope, fear for Myanmar refugees stuck in limbo
For refugees from Myanmar living in camps just across the border in Thailand, a landmark election in their homeland triggers mixed emotions – hope that a hated government will be defeated, and fear of the uncertain future such an upheaval might bring. Ko Chit, 45, who ...
Two-week NEC voter registration tests begin countrywide
The National Election Committee (NEC) began a two-week pilot project testing its new biometric voter registration system Sunday, with a goal of registering 32,500 people at 41 centers in the 24 provinces and Phnom Penh. As part of an overhaul of the country’s electoral system following ...
CNRP calls on UN to join investigation
The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party has called on the United Nations to join an investigation into the beating of two CNRP parliamentarians last Monday, expressing serious doubts the Cambodian People’s Party-led government could conduct an independent inquiry into an incident it was almost immediately ...
ANP aims for two-thirds of Rakhine State’s seats
As the two major national parties, the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party and the opposition National League for Democracy, square off in advance of the November 8 election, attention is also being directed to the prospects of the country’s many ethnic-based parties. The Arakan ...
Advance polling kicks off
Advance voting got under way on 29 October for those unable to cast a ballot in their constituencies on polling day next weekend, many of whom are soldiers and civil servants. The early ballot comes after overseas nationals cast advance votes earlier this month ahead of the ...
UN rights envoy raises election credibility fears
The special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar on 29 October told one of the United Nations highest-level bodies that she is not convinced the coming election will be free and fair. Yanghee Lee criticised the candidate scrutiny process for being non-transparent and for seemingly arbitrarily disqualifying ...
After 2010 fraud, advance vote concerns remain in Kayah State
In 2010, shortly before the 7 November election, U Tun Shwe, a local administrator and Union Solidarity and Development Party official from Chigwe village, Bawlakhe township, was given an unusual task: Place a tick on blank ballot forms next to the USDP logo. The votes were ...
Chinese leader to pay state visit to Vietnam
Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay a State visit to Vietnam from 5-6 November at the invitation of Vietnam’s General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Truong Tan Sang, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced. Keep reading ...
ASEAN seeking solution to post-war unexploded bombs
An expert working group’s third conference on humanitarian mine action within the framework of the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM+) was held in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue on 29 October. The event, organised by the Institute for International Relations under the Vietnamese Ministry ...
