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
This week started with another four-year sentence by the special junta court in Naypyitaw to Myanmar's ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday. The sentence includes two years of imprisonment for the illegal import of walkie talkies under the export-import law, one year for the possession of the devices under the
The following is the December issue of ANFREL's Monthly Brief on Countries under Restrictive Environment 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 #9: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar & Hong Kong
After the horrifying attack on civilians by junta forces on Christmas Eve in Hpruso township of Kayah state that killed more than 35 people, including women, children, and two employees of Save the Children, and the continued airstrikes in Lay Kay Kaw of Kayin State that resulted in thousands of people fleeing
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) is commemorating 25 years of advancing electoral democracy in Asia in 2022. In the last quarter of 2021, ANFREL organized the Asian Electoral Stakeholder Forum 5 where participants adopted the “AESF 5 Memorandum: The Way Forward for Elections Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic.” ANFREL also observed
The following is the November issue of ANFREL's Monthly Brief on Countries under Restrictive Environment 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 #8: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar & Hong Kong (November 2021)
Bangkok, 30 November 2021 Thailand held on Sunday 28 November 2021 its first tambon/sub-district administration organization (TAO) elections since the 2014 coup. This followed on provincial elections and municipal elections held in December 2020 and March 2021, respectively. ANFREL welcomes this long-overdue return to local democracy, congratulates the voters, the Election Commission
According to Myanmar’s National Unity Government’s (NUG) Defense Ministry, 1,300 junta soldiers were killed and 463 injured in clashes with civilian resistance groups in October which was almost double the number the junta’s forces suffered in September. The verdict against Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi for alleged violations of COVID-19
Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi has denied two charges that she allegedly breached COVID-19 restrictions during the 2020 general election campaign. Four soldiers and a policeman involved in the raid of Aung San Suu Kyi's residence were cross-examined by her lawyers in the trial for illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies.
This monthly brief intends to provide an update on democracy and civil and political rights issues in selected countries and territories under a restrictive environment.
Myanmar’s ousted leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi appeared at the Naypyitaw’s court and deny the charge of incitement made by the junta as she testified on her own behalf since she was detained during the 1 February coup1. U Win Htein, the detained patron of the NLD party, was sentenced to
The fifth Asian Electoral Stakeholder Forum (AESF 5) participants developed a memorandum which provides insights on the way forward for elections beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. As the COVID-19 pandemic compounded the already existing unprecedented attacks to democracy and the continuous backsliding of fundamental freedoms worldwide, AESF 5 gathered a diversity of election
At least 110 people, including rock singer Ito, NLD members and anti-regime protesters, have been rearrested across the country by the junta immediately after being released, while the junta said that more than 5,600 people in custody or wanted for anti-junta activism would be released or have their arrest warrants canceled1. The
Myanmar ousted leaders Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint pleaded not guilty to the charge of breaching COVID-19 restrictions during last year’s election campaign in the hearing indicted by a judge in Naypyitaw. Win Myint revealed the details story on the day of the 1 February coup, two senior army officers
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) is pleased to welcome the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH 2.0) from Malaysia and the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) from the Philippines as new members of the ANFREL family. The ANFREL Executive Council during a special meeting on 5 October 2021
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) is hosting two side events to the Asian Electoral Stakeholder Forum 5 on 21 October 2021 at 3-4 p.m. (Bangkok time). The two parallel side events will discuss the democratic backsliding in Hong Kong and what the international community could do nine months since the
