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In-Depth Information
Unhappy with the revised constitution pushed through by the government in 2008, the
NLD called for a boycott of the October 2010 elections, in turn causing the military junta
to declare the party illegal. This decision caused a division within the NLD that resulted
in senior members of the organisation, Dr Than Nyein and Khin Maung Swe, leaving to
form the National Democratic Force (NDF), a party that did contest the 2010 poll. Since
2010 the NDF has splintered with some members rejoining the NLD.
In November 2011 the NLD decided to register as a political party so it could contest
the 2012 elections. This move was approved by the election commission and in April
2012 the party went on to secure a landslide victory at the by-election, including securing
a seat for Aung San Suu Kyi. Out of 45 contested seats, the NLD only lost out on two:
one in eastern Shan State to the locally strong Shan Nationalities Democratic Party, and
one to the USDP in northwest Sagaing Division where the NLD candidate had been dis-
qualified.
Including MPs rejoining the party post the 2010 election, the NLD currently have 38
seats in the lower house of parliament and four in the upper house, making them the
largest elected opposition force in Myanmar at the national level.
2014 CENSUS
'Facts are negotiated more than they are observed in Myanmar', writes David Stein-
berg in Burma/Myanmar: What Everyone Needs to Know. 'Statistics are often im-
precise or manipulated, caused by internal political considerations or insufficient
data, and biased externally by a lack of access to materials.' Under such circum-
stances, economic policy becomes pretty much guesswork.
Although recent government reforms are beginning to rectify this situation, even
a basic figure such as Myanmar's population has long been elusive. The Chinese
news agency Xinhua quotes the government's 2009 official figure of 59.12 million,
the CIA World Factbook says 55.17 million and the Asian Development Bank has it
at 61.12 million. Sean Turnell, an expert on Myanmar's economy at Sydney's
Macquarie University, isn't surprised by this spread. 'The last full census was back
in 1913,' he says.
In March 2014 a national census was carried out under the auspices of the Un-
ited Nations Fund for Population Activities (
myanmar.unfpa.org
)
. In a country with
over 135 ethnic groups, at least 19 major languages and areas where armed con-
flicts could still be in progress, undertaking such a survey is no simple exercise. At
the time of writing, the census results were expected to be ready by August 2014.
In this topic,where we give population figures, they should only be taken as es-
timates that try to gauge the relative size of different towns and cities.
