BIGpedia - Politics of Myanmar - Encyclopedia and Dictionary Online

Country name:

conventional long form: Union of Burma

conventional short form: Burma

local long form: Pyidaungzu Myanma Naingngandaw (translated by the US Government as Union of Myanma and by the Burmese as Union of Myanmar)

local short form: Myanma Naingngandaw

former: Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma

Data code: BM

Government type: military regime

Capital: Rangoon (regime refers to the capital as Yangon)

Administrative divisions: 7 divisions* (tine-mya, singular - tine) and 7 states (pyi'nè-mya, singular - pyi'nè); Chin State, Ayeyarwady*, Bago*, Kachin State, Kayin State, Kayah State, Magway*, Mandalay*, Mon State, Rakhine State, Sagaing*, Shan State, Tanintharyi*, Yangon*

Independence: January 4, 1948 (from the United Kingdom)

National holiday: Independence Day, January 4 (1948)

Constitution: January 3 1974 (suspended since September 18 1988); national convention started on January 9 1993 to draft a new constitution; chapter headings and three of 15 sections have been approved

Legal system: does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

chief of state: Prime Minister and Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Senior General Than Shwe (since April 23 1992); note - the prime minister is both the chief of state and head of government

head of government: Prime Minister and Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Gen. Than Shwe (since April 23 1992); note - the prime minister is both the chief of state and head of government

cabinet: State Peace and Development Council (SPDC); military junta, so named November 15 1997, which initially assumed power September 18 1988 under the name State Law and Order Restoration Council; the SPDC oversees the cabinet

elections: none; the prime minister assumed power upon resignation of the former prime minister

Vice-chairman of SPDC: Maung Aye 
Prime minister: Soe Win
Defence minister: Than Shwe
Foreign minister: Nyan Win
Home affairs minister: Tin Hlaing

Legislative branch: unicameral People's Assembly or Pyithu Hluttaw (485 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)

elections: last held May 27 1990, but Assembly never convened

election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NLD 396, NUP 10, other 79

Judicial branch: limited; remnants of the British-era legal system in place, but there is no guarantee of a fair public trial; the judiciary is not independent of the executive

Political parties and leaders: National League for Democracy or NLD (Aung Shwe , chairman, Aung San Suu Kyi, general secretary); National Unity Party or NUP (proregime) (Tha Khaw ); Union Solidarity and Development Association or USDA (proregime, a social and political organization) (Than Aung , general secretary); and eight minor legal parties

Political pressure groups and leaders: All Burma Student Democratic Front or ABSDF; Kachin Independence Army or KIA; Karen National Union or KNU; National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma or NCGUB (Dr. Sein Win ) consists of individuals legitimately elected to the People's Assembly but not recognized by the military regime; the group fled to a border area and joined with insurgents in December 1990 to form a parallel government; several Shan factions; United Wa State Army or UWSA

International organization participation: AsDB, ASEAN, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Politics of Myanmar

See also