Myanmar

V

Government

The country was governed according to the provisions of the constitution of 1948 until the coup d’état of 1962, after which the existing form of government was wiped out. In 1974 a new constitution was adopted. This document served as the basis of governmental organization until its suspension after the military coup of September 1988. Following the coup, a military State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) ruled as a de facto government, ignoring the result of the 1990 elections, which it lost overwhelmingly. This was replaced in 1997 by the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), with similar powers and membership. A constitutional convention convened by SLORC in 1993 to rewrite the constitution led to a referendum on its contents in 2008.

A

Executive and Legislature

Under the 1974 constitution, the country’s chief executive official was the president, who was chairman of the 29-member State Council. The State Council and the Council of Ministers (headed by the prime minister) were chosen by the unicameral People’s Assembly, the principal legislative body. After the 1988 coup the new military government abolished all state organs created under the 1974 constitution, and established the State Law and Order Council (SLORC), which exercised legislative and executive authority; it was composed chiefly of military figures and their appointees. The SPDC, which replaced SLORC in November 1997, brought purely generational and cosmetic changes to the political system.

B

Political Parties

Following the coup d’état in 1962, the Revolutionary Council established by the military urged that all existing parties unite within a single party, the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP); all other political parties were banned in March 1964. Under the 1974 constitution, the BSPP was confirmed as the only legal political party. Following the September 1988 coup new parties were allowed to register for the planned general elections; 93 parties registered, and contested the elections when they were held in May 1990. However, following the victory of the largest of the opposition parties, the National League for Democracy (NLD)—which had been founded in the months before the coup—the SLORC announced that the elections had been intended to provide only a consultative assembly to negotiate a new constitution, and not a legislative body. Subsequently, the SLORC began deregistering opposition parties, and by the end of 1993 all but 10 of the original 93 parties had been declared illegal. The activities of the remaining parties, including the NLD, were severely curtailed by harassment and the detention of leading members.

C

Judiciary

Under the 1974 constitution, the judiciary system was centralized, but all civilian courts were suspended after the 1988 military coup. The central judiciary and the local Law and Order Restoration Councils are appointed by the SPDC; there is a chief judge, a five-member Supreme Court, and an Attorney-General.

D

Local Government

The country is organized as seven divisions inhabited by Burman people and seven states populated by national minorities. The 1974 constitution provided for people’s councils, headed by executive committees, to be elected at all levels of local and regional or state government. This structure was replaced after the 1988 coup by Division, Township, and Village Law and Order Restoration Councils, which control local government; regional commanders have considerable autonomy over their districts.