ABSTRACT
Myanmar’s 2008 constitution offers a military-defined framework for reform of political and economic governance. The first phase of reform, marked by the 2010 election, was led by President Thein Sein, a former army general turned incrementalist political reformer. The election in 2015, of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) further shifted the balance of power away from the former military regime. The incumbent NLD-led coalition government, which includes influential conservative, ethnic and bureaucratic factions, has sought new space for democratic consolidation. However, the 2017 Rohingya humanitarian crisis, precipitated by Myanmar government security operations in northern Rakhine State, and the lack of progress towards a national peace settlement, have both significantly dented the NLD’s credibility on the international stage. Myanmar’s commitment to electoral democracy and to an ongoing process of political change is in doubt as the country struggles to accommodate a wide range of conflicted economic, religious, ethnic and strategic interests.
