Government
National government
Financial commission moves to reapportion union budget
The Financial Commission hopes to reapportion the 2016-17 Union Budget, looking to allocate more funds to the education, health and social welfare sectors. Zaw Htay, President’s Office spokesperson, told The Irrawaddy on 16 June that Vice President Myint Swe manages the budgets of Union-level ministries and agencies, ...
Vietnam, Cambodia issue Joint Statement
At the invitation of His Majesty Preah Bat Samdech Preah Boromneath Norodom Sihamoni, King of Cambodia, H. E. Mr. Tran Dai Quang, President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , and Madame Nguyen Thi Hien led a high – level Vietnamese delegation to pay a ...
UNFC proposes more negotiations prior to Suu Kyi meeting
The United Nationalities Federal Council, an alliance of nine ethnic armed groups, has told Burma’s peace delegation that it would like to hold additional talks with lead negotiator Dr. Tin Myo Win before meeting State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi. Tun Zaw, the secretary of the ...
Rangoon division parliament demands crackdown on drugs
On 14 June, more than a dozen National League for Democracy lawmakers in the Rangoon Division parliament demanded that authorities crack down on big-time drug dealers and smugglers in the city, who keep evading arrest, citing the worsening effect of drugs on Rangoon’s youth. “One of ...
EC, NLA unnerved by referendum-law challenge
The chiefs of the Election Commission and the National Legislative Assembly showed confidence on 9 June the draft charter referendum remained on course despite the latest decision by the Constitutional Court. The controversial words are “violent, aggressive, rude,” which the petitioners find vague and subjective and open ...
New Members Appointed to Burma’s Investment Commission
The Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) was reshuffled on 7 June to include 11 new members, the President’s Office announced on 8 June. Kyaw Win, Minister of National Planning and Finance, was appointed chairman, and Than Myint, Minister of Commerce, was appointed vice chairman. Aung Naing Oo, former secretary ...
More than 65.5 million voters go to polls
The National Election Council’s Office reported more than 65.5 million voters nationwide or 98.77 percent of the electorate went to the polls by 22:20 on May 22 to elect deputies to the 14th National Assembly of Vietnam and all-level People’s Councils for 2016-2021.Keep reading ...
Hluttaw eyes fixing repressive laws
Parliament is taking steps to slash one repressive law used to crack down on activists and will debate heavily revising another later this week. The junta-era, 1975 State Protection Act was revoked by the Pyithu Hluttaw on 9 May after the conclusion that the law was explicitly ...
Majority in NE understand ‘less than 20%’ of draft charter
Most residents of the Northeast understand only a small part of the draft constitution, a public opinion poll found. As many as 54.3 per cent of respondents said they understood less than 20 per cent of the draft’s content, according to survey results released on 9 May by ...
Energy and electricity merger complete
A merger between the ministries of electric power and energy, ordered by the new government in March, is now complete and the new structure will be submitted to the cabinet for approval, officials said. U Pe Zin Tun will head up the new ministry. The ...
