Government
Ethnic parties concerned over limited voice in 2016 parliament
Ethnic political leaders are concerned over their marginal collective role in Myanmar’s next Parliament, with the majority of ethnic parties enjoying few gains in 8 November’s general election. “It’s like we have been hit by a tsunami,” said Sai Aung Myint Khaing, a central committee member of ...
ASEAN integration concerns aired at grassroots event
Hundreds gathered on 16 November in Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park for the fifth Cambodian Grassroots People’s Assembly, where they called for issues ranging from deforestation to democracy to be addressed ahead of ASEAN integration. About 700 people from the Cambodian Cross Sector Network, a group made up ...
Stripped of immunity, Rainsy delays return
Three days after a warrant was issued for his arrest, Cambodia National Rescue Party president Sam Rainsy on 16 November backed off a pledge to return to the Kingdom and face the prospect of jail, but insisted he would arrive soon. A day of drama that began ...
Myanmar poll raises internet usage
Internet usage in Myanmar rose by 300 per cent on 8 November when the nation hosted the general election, according to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. Keep reading ...
Thai Deputy PM insists on using administrative order in rice cases
Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam has reiterated the government is not bullying ex-PM Yingluck Shinawatra when it demands compensation from her for damages from the rice-pledging programme using using the 1996 administrative tort law instead of the Civil Code. Damages can be claimed in one of the ...
FIFA ethics committee bans executives from Nepal, Laos
The ethics committee at world soccer body FIFA has banned two officials from Nepal and Laos for taking cash during elections, it said on 16 November. Keep reading ...
President to parties: Stability during transition is responsibility of all
As if to reflect the sea change that has overtaken the country’s politics in the past week, representatives of the National League for Democracy – still officially the opposition party – were seated at the head of the table at a meeting with President U Thein ...
Rainsy vows to return amid threats of arrest
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy is scheduled to return to Phnom Penh on 16 November where he could face arrest and a two-year prison sentence over a defamation case dating back to 2008, his party said on 15 November. Eng Chhay Eang, a spokesman of the opposition Cambodia ...
Sam Rainsy removed from National Assembly
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who faces arrest and jail upon his return from abroad tonight, was removed as a member of the National Assembly on 16 November, with a spokesman for the parliament citing the warrant released for his arrest last week as justification. The Assembly’s ...
Mekong nations launch Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Framework
The Mekong River has always been an important trade route between Western China and Southeast Asia flowing through six different countries. The six foreign ministers met for the first time to frame a cooperation mechanism, agreeing to launch significant projects to enhance water resources, public health, ...