MYANMAR’S GENERAL ELECTION 2015: Change Was the Name of the Game

On Nov 8, 2015, in Myanmar's sixth multiparty general election (hereafter GE2015) since independence in 1948, voters' desire for change swept away the conservative forces associated with more than five decades of military dominance in the politics of Myanmar. That simple catchy C-word, reminiscent of Barak Obama's US presidential campaign battle cry in 2008, proved more effective than the "goodies" delivered during the five years of Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) rule under Pres U Thein Sein, as well as the last-minute deluge of amenities, goods and services brought in by powerful USDP candidates to their designated constituencies to garner votes from the weary public. Thus, GE2015 appeared to herald the dawn of a new era in Myanmar politics, whose troubled experiment in parliamentary democracy was truncated by the military coup of Mar 2, 1962. However, both powerful agencies and rigid structures stand in the way of real change as envisaged by the NLD leadership and aspired to by those who voted in the popular party led by their beloved hero's daughter.