The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) released its assessment report on Hong Kong's latest electoral changes on 8 April 2022 at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT) in conjunction with a public screening of Hong Kong protest documentary film Revolution of Our Times. The report seeks to detail how the
UN special envoy for Myanmar Noleen Heyzer met with the Cambodian prime minister and the current chairman of ASEAN Hun Sen and the ASEAN special envoy for Myanmar Prak Sokhonn. She said that she had initiated a “multi-exit framework based on a three-layered circle”, including its first layer of “center of the
In the first quarter of 2022, the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) released reports of its observation of the local elections in Thailand and the presidential election in Timor-Leste. The 2021 Thai Tambon Administrative Organization (TAO) elections, ANFREL found, were more genuine and democratic in nature than the 2019 general election.
Update 7 April 2022, 12 noon: The registration is full. Walk-ins are not available due to limited seats available. The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) cordially invites you to the launch of its Hong Kong electoral changes assessment report and the screening of the "Revolution of Our Times" documentary. The details
The ASEAN envoy to Myanmar completed his three-day in Myanmar failing to meet key political figures and groups including ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, election preparations have been put on hold citing the current political situation, and the US has determined that the Myanmar military committed genocide against Rohingya. Here
The ASEAN Envoy to Myanmar and Cambodia's foreign minister Prak Sokhonn arrived in Naypyitaw on 21 March 2022 to facilitate the peacemaking and implementation of the five-point consensus that the junta leaders and the ASEAN heads of the governments have reached in April 2021. The five-point consensus includes immediate cessation of violence,
It's election day in Timor-Leste! As 859,613 registered voters are invited to cast their votes to choose the next President of the Republic, five international observers from ANFREL are monitoring the opening, polling, and counting processes at polling stations in the municipalities of Ainaro, Baucau, Covalima, and Dili. Here are selected pictures
The hearing of alleged election fraud in 2020 Myanmar general election took place on 11 March 2022 in Naypyitaw at junta courts that the deputy director-general of the junta-appointed Union Election Commission (UEC) has been questioned by the defense lawyers during cross-examination. Media reported that there are 22 witnesses for the prosecution
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) is in Timor-Leste to monitor the first round of the country's presidential election, which will take place on 19 March. Five international observers are deployed across the country to observe the election campaign, Election Day proceedings, tabulation of votes, and announcement of results. Our observers
The pilot ANFREL Southeast Asia Media Fellowship on Election Reporting recently concluded helping train six journalists from different countries in the region as well as develop and produce compelling stories that reflect and amplify the issues and challenges that electoral stakeholders face. Launched in August 2021 thanks to the generous support of
First published on Burma Associated Press on 11 March 2022, "Myanmar’s junta switch to PR system beneficial only to them" was produced under the ANFREL Southeast Asia Media Fellowship on Election Reporting. The Myanmar military regime’s plan to switch to a proportional representation system for their planned election next year will not
First published on The Diplomat on 9 March 2022, "Elections in a Pandemic: How Filipinos Can Safely Elect Their Leaders" was produced under the ANFREL Southeast Asia Media Fellowship on Election Reporting. The Philippines will soon conduct one of Asia’s largest elections in 2022. One expert says the campaign period is beginning
International Women's Day is celebrated on March 8 every year around the world. The IWD 2022 campaign theme is "Break The Bias". Women have taken charge to advance the exercise of their civil and political rights in different aspects of everyday living but obstacles remain, limiting the progress of women to have
The special envoy of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for Myanmar and Cambodia's foreign minister Prak Sokhonn announced that he is to visit Myanmar for four days on 20-23 March 2022. This comes after some of the ASEAN member countries criticized the Myanmar junta for making no progress in resolving
This monthly brief intends to provide an update on democracy and election-related issues in selected countries and territories under a restrictive environment. Download here: Monthly Brief on Countries under Restrictive Environment - Series #11: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Hong Kong & Myanmar (February 2022)
First published on the Bangkok Post on 28 February 2022, "More young people in Myanmar taking up arms" was produced under the ANFREL Southeast Asia Media Fellowship on Election Reporting. Young people in Mon State who not long ago were actively engaged in campaigning for elections in Myanmar have shifted from protesting
The junta has threatened the Myanmar political parties of potential disbandment if they do not comply with its order to submit their financial accounts for inspection by 9 March 2022. The junta-appointed Union Election Commission (UEC) has said that if the parties do not comply with the instruction, they would face legal
First published on workpointTODAY on 17 February 2022, "Thailand: Why do we have so few women in Parliament?" was produced under the ANFREL Southeast Asia Media Fellowship on Election Reporting. By Wasinee Pabuprapap Women have held leadership positions in different sectors of society in Thailand, even in public office but they remain
First published on Malaysiakini on 30 January 2022, "Elections during COVID-19: Reforms can cure ailing democracy" was produced under the ANFREL Southeast Asia Media Fellowship on Election Reporting. By Ng Xiang Yi The poor voter turnout in the Malacca (65.85 percent) and Sarawak (60.67 percent) state elections last year amid the Covid-19
First published on Southeast Asia Globe on 2 December 2021, "Vietnam’s Festival of the People celebrates electoral failures" was produced under the ANFREL Southeast Asia Media Fellowship on Election Reporting. Trinh and her husband went to his family’s house in Hanoi’s Thanh Xuân district, where they lived before moving to a new
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) conducted the annual foreign ministers meeting on 16-17 February 2021 without the participation of Myanmar as ASEAN denied junta’s Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin joining the meeting in Phnom Penh. The decision not to invite Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin also reflected a disagreement within
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) is dismayed by the continuous retreat of democracy in Asia, as measured by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)’s latest Democracy Index. The overall regional average score for Asia and Australasia peaked at 5.74 in 2016, and has continuously declined since 2019 from 5.67 to 5.62
Cambodian Prime Minister and the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Hun Sen admitted that it was a mistake for taking credit in helping to free the Australian Professor Sean Turnell, an economic adviser to ousted Myanmar state counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, detained by the junta in
The election campaign of national post candidates kick off today, 8 February 2022, in the Philippines. In an article by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) has reported, the candidates have already spent millions on political ads even before the official campaign period started. It is necessary for the media to
On 1 February 2022, Myanmar completed a year since the military coup during which the junta detained Myanmar state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint, Chairman of the Union Election Commission Hla Thein and many other political leaders and activists in the early hours of 1 February 2021. ANFREL has
Over the past year since the coup, the Myanmar military junta has weaponized laws to further restrict rights and freedoms in the country. Here are key provisions and amendments to laws that the junta has proposed and enacted:
This monthly brief intends to provide an update on democracy and election-related issues in selected countries and territories under a restrictive environment.
Myanmar ruling party National League of Democracy won a landslide victory in the general election on 8 November 2020, winning 396 out of 476 elected seats (83%) in the Union Parliament. The military-linked opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party, however, alleged that there were irregularities in the electoral process and demanded fresh
In the coming week, Myanmar will complete 12 months under the junta regime since the military staged a coup on 1 February 2021 on the allegation of voter fraud in the 2020 Myanmar General Elections undermining the voices of the people that they expressed through the electoral process. Since the coup, the
Five fresh corruption charges were brought by the junta against Myanmar's ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi last week in relation to the alleged hiring and purchase of helicopters for the management of natural disasters and official affairs, which could lead to 75 years of imprisonment as each case can carry a
