• General information
• Electoral system
• Last elections
• Election archive
• Full text

Parliament name (generic / translated) Pyidaungsu Hluttaw / Assembly of the Union More photos  >>> Structure of parliament Bicameral Chamber name (generic / translated) Amyotha Hluttaw / House of Nationalities Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) Pyithu Hluttaw / House of Representatives Affiliation to the IPU Yes Affiliation date(s) 1948 - 1963 (Burma) 2012 - LEADERSHIP President Mahn Winn Khaing Thann (M)  Notes Elected on 3 Feb. 2016. Secretary General Kyaw Soe (Parliament) (M)  Kyi Min (House of Nationalities) (M)  Notes Mr. Kyaw Soe: Director General of Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Mr. Kyi Min: Director General of Amyotha Hluttaw COMPOSITION Members (statutory / current number) 224 / 224 PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN More statistics  >>> Women (current number) 23 (10.27%) Mode of designation directly elected 168 appointed 56 Notes Directly elected members: 12 representatives from each region or territory and one representative from each self-administered division/zone. Appointed members: 56 members who are Defence Services personnel are nominated by the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Services; four representatives from each region or territory. Term 5 years Last renewal dates 8 November 2015 (View details) CONTACT INFORMATION Address House of Nationalities Amyotha Hluttaw Yaza Htarni Road Nay Pyi Taw Myanmar (Export mailing lists) Phone (95) 67 40 90 75 (Parliament Office) 67 59 12 15 (Parliament Office) 67 59 11 99 (House of Nationalities) Fax (95) 67 40 92 39 (Parliament Office) 67 69 54 6 (Parliament Office) 67 59 12 18 (Parliament Office) 67 59 10 04 (House of Nationalities) E-mail dg@pds.hluttaw.net amyothahluttaw@gmail.com ir.dept@pds.hluttaw.net Website http://www.myanmarparliament.gov.mm/ http://www.amyothahluttaw.gov.mm/

Parliament name (generic / translated) Pyidaungsu Hluttaw / Assembly of the Union Structure of parliament Bicameral Chamber name (generic / translated) Amyotha Hluttaw / House of Nationalities Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) Pyithu Hluttaw / House of Representatives LEGAL FRAMEWORK Electoral law 8 March 2010 Mode of designation directly elected 168 appointed 56 Constituencies - 12 multi-member constituencies for 168 seats Voting system Majority: Majority vote with a possible run-off election. - Elections are held only in the constituencies where there are several candidates. Fresh elections will be organized in case the sole candidate in these constituencies dies. - The Election Commission may decide not to hold elections in some areas within the constituencies where the situation does not permit it. It may also transfer the polling booth to secure places. However, the elections as a whole are deemed valid if 51% of the voters on the electoral roll turn out at the polls. - Each voter casts one ballot for a candidate of his/her choice. The candidate with the highest number of valid votes is declared elected. In case of a tie, a run-off election will be held. - Vacancies are filled through by-elections. - Voting is not compulsory. Voter requirements - Citizenship of Myanmar and born of both parents who are citizens; - Age: 18 years or over on election day. Disqualifications: - members of religious orders; - persons serving prison terms; - persons determined to be and declared of unsound mind by a competent court; - persons who have not yet been declared free from insolvency; - persons disqualified by election law. CANDIDATES Eligibility - Qualified voters - Citizenship of Myanmar and born of both parents who are citizens - Age: 30 years or over - Residence in the country for at least 10 consecutive years prior to the election. The official period of stay in a foreign country with the permission of the State shall be counted as a residing period in the country. Ineligibilities: - Persons serving prison term or persons convicted of an offence, - Persons of unsound mind - Persons declared insolvent by a court - Persons who owe allegiance to a foreign government, subjects of a foreign government, or citizens of a foreign country - Persons who are entitled to enjoy the rights and privileges of subjects of a foreign government or citizens of a foreign country - Persons working for an organization owned by a foreign country - Persons working for an organization that abets the act of inciting, through speech or by issuing a declaration, the decision to vote or not based on religion for political purposes - Members of a religious order - Civil servants - Persons working for State-owned companies - Persons who have committed electoral offences. Incompatibilities - Members of the other chamber or regional parliaments. Candidacy requirements - Candidature submitted by political parties or independent candidates. - Political parties participating in the elections have to pay 300,000 kyat (US$ 300) to register and 500,000 kyat (US$ 500) for each candidate. Note: Myanmar uses two exchange rates: the official rate, which is tied to the Special Drawing Right (SDR, a type of international monetary reserve currency, created by the IMF in 1969) and the free market rate. The equivalent in US$ above has been calculated by applying the free market rate.

Parliament name (generic / translated) Pyidaungsu Hluttaw / Assembly of the Union Structure of parliament Bicameral Chamber name (generic / translated) Amyotha Hluttaw / House of Nationalities Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) Pyithu Hluttaw / House of Representatives BACKGROUND Dates of election / renewal (from/to) 8 November 2015 Timing and scope of renewal The National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, took an outright majority in both chambers of the parliament. The NLD took 255 of the 330 seats at stake in the 440-member House of Representatives and 135 of the 168 seats at stake in the 224-member House of Nationalities (a quarter of seats in both chambers are reserved for military personnel). The ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) dropped from 259 to 30 seats in the House of Representatives and from 129 to 12 in the House of Nationalities. Only two other parties won more than ten seats: the Arakan National Party (ANP, representing the interests of the Rakhine people) and the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD, representing the Shan minority). The USDP conceded defeat. On 1 February 2016, the newly elected parliament was sworn in. On 15 March, it elected Mr. Htin Kyaw (NLD) as the country's new President. During the election campaign, NLD promised constitutional and political reform to promote the rule of law and human rights, while the USDP ran on the government's record, stating that it had achieved a democratic path that gained international acceptance. Following the elections, on 19 November, Ms. Suu Kyi and Mr. Shwe Mann held talks and agreed on "systematic and peaceful implementation of the people's desire" to prioritize "national reconciliation and national (ethnic) unity in forming the houses of parliament". On 2 December, Ms. Suu Kyi met President Thein Sein and Army Chief Min Aung Hlaing, who pledged to assist the smooth transfer of power. These were the first general elections in which the NLD had taken part since 1990. In 1990, the NLD won 392 seats in the 492-member People's Assembly, but the newly-elected legislature was never convened and the election was eventually invalidated. The NLD boycotted the previous elections in 2010, condemning the electoral laws as "unjust". In April 2012, the NLD won all 37 seats at stake in by-elections to the House of Representatives and six in the House of Nationalities. As a result, Ms. Suu Kyi was sworn in to parliament the following month. Date of previous elections: 7 November 2010 Date of dissolution of the outgoing legislature: 31 January 2016 Timing of election: Upon normal expiry Expected date of next elections: November 2020 Number of seats at stake: 168 (full renewal)* *56 seats are reserved for members who are Defence Services personnel, nominated by the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Services. Number of candidates: 886 (765 men, 121 women) Percentage of women candidates: 13.7% Number of parties contesting the election: 91 Number of parties winning seats: 9 Date of the first session of the new parliament: 1 February 2016 Name of the new Speaker: Mr. Mahn Winn Khaing Thann (National League for Democracy, NLD) STATISTICS Voter turnout Round no 1 8 November 2015 Number of registered electors Voters Blank or invalid ballot papers Valid votes 34'295'334 23'946'709 (69.82%) Notes Distribution of votes Round no 1 Political group Candidates Votes % of votes National League for Democracy (NLD) Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) Arakan National Party (ANP) Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) Zomi Congress for Democracy (Zomi CD) Independents Pa-O National Organisation (Pa O NO) Ta'ang National Party (Ta'ang NP) Mon National Party (Mon NP) National Unity Party (NUP) Distribution of seats Round no 1 Political Group Total of seats National League for Democracy (NLD) 135 Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) 12 Arakan National Party (ANP) 10 Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) 3 Zomi Congress for Democracy (Zomi CD) 2 Independents 2 Pa-O National Organisation (Pa O NO) 1 Ta'ang National Party (Ta'ang NP) 1 Mon National Party (Mon NP) 1 National Unity Party (NUP) 1 Distribution of seats according to sex Men Women Percent of women 201 23 10.27% Distribution of seats according to age Distribution of seats according to profession Comments Sources: Assembly of the Union (04.12.2015, 06.12.2015) Union Election Commission http://www.idea.int/asia_pacific/myanmar/facts-about-women-ethnic-candidates-in-myanmar-elections.cfm http://www.bbc.com http://www.mmtimes.com Kyodo News Service

This page was last updated on 25 September 2017
Copyright 1996-2016 Inter-Parliamentary Union

• Also on PARLINE
• Search
• Modules
• At a glance
• Recent elections
• New in PARLINE
• Toolbox
• Photo gallery
• About
• Newsfeeds