Myanmar Elections - recommended research resources.

Historic elections have took place in Myanmar this week.
Here are some of our recommended resources for academic research.

Guardian coverage

Coverage from election observation missions.
These have reports on the conduct of the elections.

EU Observation mission
Carter center
Asian Network for Free Elections. 
Gender Concern 


Background information on the state of democracy in the region.
NDI has previously organised education and other programmes details of which are on its website.
Princeton University elections and political transitions workshop 2015 report 
Chatham House Feb 2015 research paper
Myanmar’s Troubled Path to Reform: Political Prospects in aLandmark Election Year 
see also the more recent comments  

 

Myanmar’s Troubled Path to Reform: Political Prospects in a Landmark Election Year - See more at: https://www.chathamhouse.org/publication/myanmar%E2%80%99s-troubled-path-reform-political-prospects-landmark-election-year?gclid=CJfe8-P0gMkCFeoJwwod9YMDgQ#sthash.Dhv6KccE.dpuf

Myanmar’s Troubled Path to Reform: Political Prospects in a Landmark Election Year - See more at: https://www.chathamhouse.org/publication/myanmar%E2%80%99s-troubled-path-reform-political-prospects-landmark-election-year?gclid=CJfe8-P0gMkCFeoJwwod9YMDgQ#sthash.Dhv6KccE.dpuf

Burma Elections

This week - some good news from Burma. with the election of Aung Suu Kyi. But does this herald a new era of democracy? Here are some starting points for research.

Newspaper Coverage from the Guardian and the New York Times
Irawaddy
Democratic Voice of Burma includes video film election coverage.
New Light of Burma (Burmese Government backed publication.)
The following organisations were observing the election. Their websites therefore have insight into conduct.
IRI
ASEAN
EU election observation.
Other major human rights groups. These are some of the main organisations. Their websites have current and historical information on events.
Burma partnership a network of organisations from Asia-Pacific campaigning for democracy.
International Center for Transitional Justice.
Burma campaign UK The resources section includes an extensive photo gallery, plus reports and links.

Network for Human Rights Documentation Burma. A Network of Burmese organisations.
Amnesty International reports.

Huamn Rights Watch Burma

Burma were the 2010 elections fair?

Following on from the previous posting- here are some recomended resources for news coverage and analysis of the 2010 elections.

Irrawaddy - well regarded news service with up to date stories and coverage.Also provided are electoral laws, interviews and quotes.

PBS reported on Media censorship during the elections. Its article contains useful links to related reports on Media freedom in the region.

Burma Election 2010 website pulls together reports from ethnic media and reporters inside Burma. Highlights include reports from individual electoral districts, and election bulletins

Mizzima is amnnother well regarded news network which features work from journalists in exile. The site includes online interviews.

Alternative Asean Network on Burma is a human rights organisation. Its website has special election coverage. This includes electoral laws, statements and reports on the state of democracy.

Radio Free Asia is an American backed organisation. Its blog has recent postings on censorship and the state of democracy in Burma.

AsiaPortal is maintained by over 20 universities and research bodies who are members of the Nordic NIAS Council and NIAS/NIAS LINC. It aims to provide researchers and students with free access to topical news, articles and research reports about Asian nations. It also offers links to the latest Asian studies research from Nordic Universities (based in Iceland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden). Its site includes some blogs about Burma

Finally the Democratic voice of Burma, a non profit media freedom body, also has excellent coverage of the hujman rights situation during the elections. Its election map has results and mappings of alleged violence and other incidents.

Burma: could an election ever be fair?

According to Barack Obama the recent elections in Burma were 'anything but fair'
Here are some useful resources for tracing facts about why he said this. They focus on the human rights situation in Burma. later today I will post on other news sources which you may find useful.

The Fund for Peace ranks Burma in 16th place on its 2010 Failed States Index.
Freedom House - Freedom of the Press report 2010 states that the press in Burma is not free
Its Freedom of the World Report also assesses the general state of democracy in Burma as unfree.
As does the Reporters without Frontiers Press Freedom Index 2010
Many leading international human rights organisations have reports covering the state of democracy in Burma. For example see the
International Crisis Group
Human Rights Watch
and Amnesty International
The United Nations has had a special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Burma. Read the reports and comments online
Also useful is the Red Cross which has news and reports on prisoners detained in Burma
Finally a wealth of links on all aspects of Burma can be easily located on the Online Burma/Myanmar library . This is part of the WWW virtual Library and has excellent coverage of blogs and organisations. It also indexes individual key documents. These include items relating to the 2010 elections