About this Collection
The Burma/Myanmar Elections web archive brings together a collection of websites that document the General Elections of 2010, the by-elections of 2012, and the General Elections of 2015.
The General Elections of 2010 were the first in twenty years in the country. They were dominated by the military regime backed party, the Union Solidarity Development Party (USDP), and boycotted by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) and affiliated groups. The electoral process was not “free and fair” and served the purpose of legitimizing the military regime. However, it did mark a transition from direct military rule to civilian government, even if that government was closely linked to the junta. Following these elections, the newly elected government began to open up space in society for more political participation and freedom of expression: thousands of prisoners were freed, Aung Sang Suu Kyi was given more leeway to move around and organize, peaceful demonstrations were permitted, and a truce was announced with Shan and Kachin rebels. Amidst these changes, the 2012 by-elections took place. The NLD won 43 out of the 45 parliamentary seats contested in a landmark victory. By 2015, the process of reforms had reached a point where open general elections could be held. Despite some irregularities and the military junta retaining 25 percent of seats in parliament through unelected military representatives, for the first time since military rule began in 1962, Burma/Myanmar had a government elected by its people in credible elections.
This archive includes websites by political parties, pro-democracy groups, human rights organizations, foreign NGOs, news agencies, and minority groups.
Staff from the Library of Congress Jakarta Office and the Asian Division in Washington, D.C. selected the websites and reviewed the archived results.
Collection Period:
May 2010 to January 2011
February 2012 to July 2012
October 2015 to January 2016
Frequency of Collection: Sites in the collection were targeted for capture weekly, monthly, or once.
Languages: Collection material in English, with Burmese, French, Shan, and Thai.