Editing Myanmar (section)

=== Period of liberalisation, 2011–2021 ===
{{See also|2011–2015 Myanmar political reforms}}
The military-backed Government had promulgated a [[Roadmap to democracy|"Roadmap to Discipline-flourishing Democracy"]] in 1993, but the process appeared to stall several times, until 2008 when the Government published a new draft national constitution, and organised a (flawed) national referendum which adopted it. The new constitution provided for election of a national assembly with powers to appoint a president, while practically ensuring army control at all levels.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Steinberg|first=David I.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/318409825|title=Burma/Myanmar : what everyone needs to know|date=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-539067-4|location=Oxford|pages=142–147|oclc=318409825}}</ref>
[[File:Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton at home of Aung San Suu Kyi.jpg|thumb|U.S. President [[Barack Obama]] and Secretary of State [[Hillary Clinton]] with [[Aung San Suu Kyi]] and her staff at her home in Yangon, 2012]]

A [[2010 Myanmar general election|general election in 2010]] – the first for twenty years – was boycotted by the [[National League for Democracy|NLD]]. The military-backed [[Union Solidarity and Development Party]] declared victory, stating that it had been favoured by 80 per cent of the votes; fraud, however, was alleged.<ref name="tni.org">{{cite web|date=14 December 2010|title=A Changing Ethnic Landscape: Analysis of Burma's 2010 Polls|url=http://www.tni.org/briefing/changing-ethnic-landscape-analysis-burmas-2010-polls|access-date=27 March 2013|work=Transnational Institute&nbsp;– Burma Project|publisher=TNI|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402140616/http://www.tni.org/briefing/changing-ethnic-landscape-analysis-burmas-2010-polls|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="nyt-un-doubt-fairness-of-election">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/22/world/asia/22nations.html|date=22 October 2010|work=The New York Times|first=Neil|last=MacFarquhar|title=U.N. Doubts Fairness of Election in Myanmar|access-date=25 February 2017|archive-date=15 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170715200353/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/22/world/asia/22nations.html|url-status=live}}</ref> A nominally civilian government was then formed, with retired general [[Thein Sein]] as president.<ref>{{cite web|date=3 September 2018|title=Myanmar profile - Timeline|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-12992883|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210326180520/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-12992883|archive-date=26 March 2021|access-date=25 September 2021|website=BBC News}}</ref>

A series of liberalising political and economic actions – or reforms – then took place. By the end of 2011 these included the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, the establishment of the [[Myanmar National Human Rights Commission|National Human Rights Commission]], the granting of general amnesties for more than 200 political prisoners, new labour laws that permitted labour unions and strikes, a relaxation of press censorship, and the regulation of currency practices.<ref>{{cite news|author=Loyn, David|date=19 November 2011|title=Obstacles lie ahead in Burma's bid for reform|publisher=BBC|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15303968|access-date=20 November 2011|archive-date=18 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111118122129/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15303968|url-status=live}}</ref> In response, [[United States Secretary of State]] [[Hillary Clinton]] visited Myanmar in December 2011 – the first visit by a US Secretary of State in more than fifty years<ref>{{cite news|author=Hepler, Lauren|author2=Voorhees, Josh|date=1 December 2011|title=Budding Friendship on Display as Clinton, Burma's Suu Kyi Meet Again|newspaper=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|agency=[[Associated Press]]|url=http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2011/11/18/hillary_clinton_to_visit_myanmar_burma_first_trip_by_secretary_of_state_in_more_than_50_years.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617073614/http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2011/11/18/hillary_clinton_to_visit_myanmar_burma_first_trip_by_secretary_of_state_in_more_than_50_years.html|archive-date=17 June 2013|quote=Wrapping up a historic three-day visit to Myanmar [Burma], the first by a secretary of state to the Southeast Asian nation in more than 50 years}}</ref> – meeting both President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.<ref name="Clinton">{{cite news|author=Myers, Steven Lee|date=2 December 2011|title=Clinton Says U.S. Will Relax Some Restrictions on Myanmar|page=A6|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/02/world/asia/us-will-relax-curbs-on-aid-to-myanmar.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111201172242/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/02/world/asia/us-will-relax-curbs-on-aid-to-myanmar.html |archive-date=1 December 2011 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=15 May 2013}}</ref>

[[Aung San Suu Kyi]]'s [[National League for Democracy|NLD]] party participated in the 2012 by-elections, facilitated by the government's abolition of the laws that previously barred it.<ref>{{cite news|date=18 November 2011|title=US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to visit Burma|publisher=BBC|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15787052|access-date=25 November 2011|archive-date=20 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111120053747/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15787052|url-status=live}}</ref> In the April 2012 [[2012 Myanmar by-elections|by-elections]], the NLD won 43 of the 45 available seats. The 2012 by-elections were also the first time that international representatives were allowed to monitor the voting process in Myanmar.<ref>{{cite news|last=Golluoglu|first=Esmer|date=4 February 2012|title=Aung San Suu Kyi hails 'new era' for Burma after landslide victory|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/02/aung-san-suu-kyi-new-era-burma?newsfeed=true}}</ref>

Myanmar's improved international reputation was indicated by [[ASEAN]]'s approval of Myanmar's bid for the position of ASEAN chair in 2014.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Cabellero-Anthony|first1=Mely|date=March 2014|title="Myanmar's Chairmanship of ASEAN: Challenges and Opportunities", Myanmar's Growing Regional Role|url=http://www.nbr.org/publications/element.aspx?id=741|journal=NBR Special Report|access-date=4 August 2014|archive-date=10 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010114243/http://www.nbr.org/publications/element.aspx?id=741|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Burma en.png|thumb|upright=0.8|Map of Myanmar and its divisions]]

==== 2015 general elections ====
General elections [[2015 Myanmar general election|were held on 8 November 2015]]. These were the first openly contested elections held in Myanmar since the 1990 general election (which was annulled<ref name="landmark_elections_2015_12_03_bbc">[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33547036 "Myanmar's 2015 landmark elections explained,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321181407/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33547036 |date=21 March 2021 }} 3 December 2015, BBC News, retrieved 1 March 2021</ref>). The results gave the NLD an [[Supermajority|absolute majority]] of seats in both chambers of the [[national parliament]], enough to ensure that its candidate would become president, while NLD leader [[Aung San Suu Kyi]] is constitutionally barred from the presidency.<ref name="landmark_elections_2015_12_03_bbc" /><ref name="national_league_wins_2015_11_13_bbc">{{cite news |title=Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy Wins Majority in Myanmar |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34805806 |access-date=13 November 2015 |publisher=BBC News |date=13 November 2015 |archive-date=13 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151113070516/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34805806 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The new parliament convened on 1 February 2016,<ref>{{cite web|title = Suu Kyi's novice MPs learn ropes in outgoing Myanmar parliament|url = http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/suu-kyi-s-novice-mps/2464054.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160127170900/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/suu-kyi-s-novice-mps/2464054.html|url-status=dead|archive-date = 27 January 2016|publisher = Channel NewsAsia|access-date = 28 January 2016}}</ref> and on 15 March 2016, [[Htin Kyaw]] was elected as the first non-military president since the military coup of 1962.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Moe|first1=Wae|last2=Ramzy|first2=Austin|title=Myanmar Lawmakers Name Htin Kyaw President, Affirming Civilian Rule|date=15 March 2016|newspaper=The New York Times|url=http://nyti.ms/1M4ac5P}}</ref> On 6 April 2016, [[Aung San Suu Kyi]] assumed the newly created role of [[State Counsellor of Myanmar|state counsellor]], a role akin to a [[Prime Minister of Myanmar|prime minister]].<ref>Daniel Combs, ''Until the World Shatters: Truth, Lies, and the Looting of Myanmar'' (2021).</ref>