Post-Election Myanmar: Context, Opportunities and Challenges


Myanmar’s democratic transition has generated considerable global interest and heightened domestic and international expectations that the sweeping electoral victory by the National League of Democracy in November 2015 delivered greater transformation of the political system and improve quality of life across a country that remains largely rural and poor. Panelists presented their perspectives on these critical issues facing the country, focusing on Myanmar’s prospects for governance reforms; the state of the economy and economic reforms; progress in the peace process; and the hopes, expectations and concerns of the general public in the post-election context. The discussion also explored the issues around broader public sector reform and public administrative systems of ethnic armed actors, based on findings from Conceptualizing Public Sector Reform in Myanmar and Ethnic Armed Conflict and Territorial Administration in Myanmar, two in an ongoing series of analytic reports by The Asia Foundation.

Featuring: Kim N. B. Ninh, Asia Foundation country representative for Myanmar; Ma Thida, President of PEN Myanmar; Tin Htoo Naing, Director of the Center for Economy, Environment and Society; Kim Jolliffe, Lead Researcher of the Social Services in Contested Area Project, The Asia Foundation.

Related locations: Myanmar
Related programs: Good Governance