System of government

The Cambodian authorities should immediately and unconditionally release Cambodia’s more than 60 political prisoners remaining in custody, Human Rights Watch said today. Between November 5 and 12, 2021, the authorities released 26 political prisoners but did not drop the charges against them, making them subject to future ...

Dozens of Myanmar security force members have been killed in fighting, rebel fighters have claimed, as Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in person at a court hearing for the first time since her government was overthrown by the military in February’s coup. In one battle on Sunday, the ...

As Myanmar’s dark era of junta rule began winding down in 2011 with the bold reforms initiated by the quiet ex-general, President Thein Sein, other events happening across Southeast Asia gave reformists hope this was not an isolated instance of democratic progress.   That year, Yingluck Shinawatra ...

The E.U. has listed Cambodia as one of 12 “high-risk” countries with deficient anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing efforts, but the government on Friday said officials were working hard to get the nation off international watch lists. The European Commission on Thursday adopted a new list ...

What happens when the greatest threat to national security comes from a virus? What does that mean for defense spending, modernization, and civil-military relations? In Southeast Asia — where militaries have long had an outsized role in politics, economics, and society — the answers to ...

When Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League of Democracy (NLD) party won the general elections in 2015, a new wave of hope swept Myanmar. Previously under a military junta for almost 50 years from 1962 to 2011, Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi ...

Lawmakers took a first step Tuesday toward amending Myanmar’s constitution to curb the power of the military, a difficult process that risks straining the uneasy relations between the civilian leadership and the armed forces. Keep reading ...

Cambodia has become more autocratic and its government’s claim of stable economic development rests on uncertain basis, according to a comprehensive new report. The Bertelsmann Stiftung’s Transformation Index (BTI), published on Thursday, claims that the quality of Cambodia’s democracy, market economy and governance performance has ...

Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi is “not feeling well” and has pulled out of delivering a keynote speech in Sydney on Tuesday. Key points: Lowy Institute Lecture was set to be Suu Kyi’s only public arrangement in Australia Suu Kyi facing criticism over plight ...

Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong said on June 8 that his ministry was studying ways to pay for the proposal. In May, the Cabinet approved a Bt50 billion assistance package for low-income earners. The government is considering whether funds from this package could help pay for the ...