Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, also known as Burma, is a country in Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia, and had a population of about 54 million in 2017. It is bordered by Bangladesh and India to its northwest, China to its northeast, Laos and Thailand to its east and southeast, and the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal to its south and southwest. The country's capital city is Naypyidaw, and its largest city is Yangon.
Myanmar operates de jure as a unitary assembly-independent republic under its 2008 constitution. On 1 February 2021, Myanmar's military took over the government in a coup, causing ongoing anti-coup protests.
The National League for Democracy is a liberal democratic political party in Myanmar (Burma). It became the country's ruling party after a landslide victory in the 2015 general election but was overthrown in a military coup d'état in early 2021 following another landslide election victory in 2020.
Myanmar is a unitary republic, with elected representatives at the national and, state or region levels. On the national level, the head of state, the President, is elected indirectly through an Electoral College. According to the 2008 constitution, the term durations of the legislature, the President, and the Cabinet are five years. All elections are regulated by the Union Election Commission.
San Yu was a Burmese army general and statesman who served as the fifth president of Myanmar from 9 November 1981 to 27 July 1988.
The President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar is the head of state and constitutional head of government of Myanmar. The president chairs the National Defence and Security Council and normally leads the Cabinet of Myanmar, the executive branch of the Burmese government, though the military prime minister leads the cabinet under the current state of emergency. The current president is Myint Swe, who assumed the presidency in an acting capacity through a military coup d'état on 1 February 2021. Though a constitutionally powerful position, the presidency is a largely symbolic post under the current military government, with Myint Swe appearing only to rubber-stamp military rule.
Myint Swe is a Burmese politician and retired army general currently serving as Acting President of Myanmar as well as First Vice President. He previously served as the acting president after the resignation of President Htin Kyaw on 21 March 2018, and the chief minister of Yangon Region from 30 March 2011 to 30 March 2016. On 30 March 2016, he was sworn in as the vice president of Myanmar. A member of the military proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party, he is an ethnic Mon former lieutenant general in the Myanmar Army.
The Union Solidarity and Development Party is an ultranationalist, pro-military political party in Myanmar. Alongside the National League for Democracy, it is one of Myanmar's two principal national parties. USDP is the successor to the former ruling military junta's mass organisation, the Union Solidarity and Development Association, and serves as the electoral proxy of the Tatmadaw (military), which operates as a state within a state. Many of its political candidates and leadership are retired generals. It supports authoritarian military leadership. USDP was founded by Prime Minister Thein Sein to contest the 2010 Myanmar general election and headed by him until 2013. Since 2022 it has been led by Khin Yi, who was installed as a loyalist of military leader Min Aung Hlaing.
The 1962 Burmese coup d'état marked the beginning of one-party rule and the political dominance of the army in Burma which spanned the course of 26 years. In the 2 March 1962 coup, the military replaced the civilian AFPFL-government, headed by Prime Minister U Nu, with the Union Revolutionary Council, Chaired by General Ne Win.
Zin Mar Aung is a Burmese politician, activist, and former political inmate who is serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the National Unity Government of Myanmar. She previously served as a House of Representatives MP for Yankin Township Constituency from 2016 until her removal from office in the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état.
Salai Lian Luai, a lawyer turned politician who served as Chief Minister of Chin State, the head of Chin State Government. He received a law degree from Yangon University.
Hla Swe is a Burmese politician who served as an MP in the House of Nationalities for Magwe Region № 12 constituency from 2011 to 2016.
Thet Thet Khine is a Burmese politician, physician and businesswoman who is the Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement appointed by the military junta after the coup d'état in 2021. She was a member of parliament in the House of Representatives for Dagon Township constituency in 2015 elections but did not win her seat at Mayangone Township when she ran in 2020 elections on her newly established People's Pioneer Party platform. She owns a number of gold, jewelry, and gem production companies as well as a real estate business.
A coup d'état in Myanmar began on the morning of 1 February 2021, when democratically elected members of the country's ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), were deposed by the Tatmadaw—Myanmar's military—which then vested power in a military junta. Acting president Myint Swe proclaimed a year-long state of emergency and declared power had been transferred to Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Min Aung Hlaing. It declared the results of the November 2020 general election invalid and stated its intent to hold a new election at the end of the state of emergency. The coup d'état occurred the day before the Parliament of Myanmar was due to swear in the members elected at the 2020 election, thereby preventing this from occurring. President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi were detained, along with ministers, their deputies, and members of Parliament.
The State Administration Council is the military junta currently governing Myanmar, established by Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Min Aung Hlaing following the February 2021 coup d'état. The Council is chaired by Min Aung Hlaing. It has formed a provisional administration, also led by Min Aung Hlaing as Prime Minister of Myanmar.
Thein Nyunt is a Burmese lawyer, columnist, and politician. He served on Myanmar's State Administration Council from 2021 to 2023. A former member of the National League for Democracy (NLD), he founded the New National Democracy Party and co-founded the National Democratic Force (NDF) after splitting from the NLD. Thein Nyunt served as an MP for the Pyithu Hluttaw, representing Thingangyun Township, from 2011 to 2016.
Protests in Myanmar, known locally as the Spring Revolution, began in early 2021 in opposition to the coup d'état on 1 February, staged by Min Aung Hlaing, the commander-in-chief of the country's armed forces, the Tatmadaw. As of 23 June 2022, at least 2000 protesters have been killed, 14,000 currently arrested and 700,000 displaced by the junta.
The Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw is a Burmese legislative body in exile, representing a group of National League for Democracy lawmakers and members of parliament ousted in the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état. The Committee consists of 17 members of the Pyithu Hluttaw and Amyotha Hluttaw.
The caretaker government of Myanmar, officially the Provisional Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, is the executive body of Myanmar under the current military junta, the State Administration Council. On 1 August 2021, it replaced the Management Committee of the State Administration Council, which had been in place since 19 February 2021, following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état. Some ministers were appointed by Min Aung Hlaing immediately following the coup on 1 February, in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services exercising emergency powers.
In Myanmar's next general election, voters are expected to elect representatives to both the Amyotha Hluttaw and the Pyithu Hluttaw of the Assembly of the Union. The planned election would be the first after the 2021 military coup d'état. Though the military junta, the State Administration Council, initially promised to hold the election by August 2023, it has since indefinitely delayed the election in the face of increasing violence.
