Myanmar general election, 2015

General elections were held in Myanmar on 8 November 2015, with the National League for
Democracy winning a supermajority of seats in the combined national parliament. Voting
occurred in all constituencies, excluding seats appointed by the military, to select Members of
Assembly to seats in both the upper house (the House of Nationalities) and the lower house (the
House of Representatives) of the Assembly of the Union, and State and Region Hluttaws. Ethnic
Affairs Ministers were also elected by their designated electorates on the same day, although
only select ethnic minorities in particular states and regions were entitled to vote for them.
These polls are the first openly-contested election held in the country since 1990, which was
annulled by the military government after the National League for Democracy's (NLD) victory.
The poll was preceded by the 2010 General Election, which was marred by a widespread boycott
and allegations of systematic fraud by the victorious Union Solidarity and Development Party
(USDP).
The NLD won a sweeping victory, taking 86 percent of the seats in the Assembly of the Union
(235 in the House of Representatives and 135 in the House of Nationalities), well more than the
67 percent supermajority needed to ensure that its preferred candidates will be elected president
and second vice president in the Presidential Electoral College. While the NLD only needed a
simple majority to carry on the normal business of government, it needed at least 67 percent to
outvote the combined pro-military bloc in the Presidential Electoral College (the USDP and the
appointed legislators representing the military). While NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi is
constitutionally barred from the presidency (as both her late husband and her children are foreign
citizens), she is the de facto head of government, after being appointed to a newly created office,
the State Counsellor of Myanmar.[1]
As the election approached, the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party confirmed it
would contest its winning constituencies from 2010.[2] The opposition National League for
Democracy party confirmed it would contest even if a constitutional measure barring Aung San
Suu Kyi from running for president was not amended.[3]
The National Unity Party confirmed it would review its winning seats from 2010 and would
consider other constituencies to challenge. The National Democratic Force said the party was
prepared to challenge in as many as 200 constituencies but was still determining candidates.
Ethnic political groups would contest in each state based on ethnic party strongholds, although
some indicated they would consider forming an alliance as the Federal Union Party.
Before the election, 91 political parties were registered to take part in 2015.

In July 2015, Myanmar's Union Election Commission (UEC) designated the number of
constituencies for running in the 2015 general election of four levels of parliamentary
representatives: 330 constituencies for elections to the House of Representatives (the lower
house), 168 for the House of Nationalities (the upper house), 644 for the State and Regional
Hluttaws (local parliaments) and 29 for ethnic ministers of the local parliaments. The UEC also
issued procedures for international observers to follow in monitoring the election, which was
preliminarily scheduled for the end of October or the beginning of November.[4]
The Union Election Commission cancelled elections in Kyethi and Mong Hsu townships in Shan
State following armed clashes between the Tatmadaw and the insurgent Shan State Army North. Despite calls by the Shan State Progressive Party to proceed with the elections, the UEC
has denied the request, stating that it is not possible to hold free and fair elections in these areas.
Elections were further cancelled in some villages in Hopang, Namtit, both of which fall within
the nation's Wa Self-Administered Division, and under the control of the insurgent United Wa
State Army. The cancellation of these elections will see the vacancy of 7 seats in the House of
Representatives and 14 seats in the Shan State Hluttaw.
By-elections had been scheduled to be held in November or December 2014, to elect members
for six seats in the House of Nationalities, 13 in the House of Representatives, and 11 in state and
regional legislatures. The seat vacancies were primarily the result of their former holders' moves
to ministerial posts or departmental positions within government, but also included some other
constituencies where representatives had died.[5][6][7][8] The by-elections were expected to indicate
the relative strengths of the contending parties, including President Thein Sein's Union Solidarity
and Development Party (USDP) and the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party
led by Aung San Suu Kyi.[6]
On 7 September 2014, the Union Election Commission cancelled the by-election because the
period for campaigning would take place too close to that of the general elections in 2015 and
because the results would therefore not have had any political significance.[9][10]