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Htin Kyaw was elected as president by 360 votes, more than a third of the parliament's 652 available votes. He will act essentially as a proxy for the majority National League for Democracy (NLD) party’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is constitutionally barred from running for the county's highest office. Htin Kyaw is a writer, scholar, and 1972 Oxford graduate. When he takes over from President Thein Sein on April 1, he will be first president of Myanmar without ties to the military since 1962.

Myint Swe, the 64-year-old chief minister of Yangon region, was elected as first vice president. He gained 213 votes, receiving support from the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and from military lawmakers, who by constitutional guarantee occupy a quarter of the parliament’s seats. As first vice-president, Myint Swe would serve temporarily as Acting President if the office of the presidency falls vacant due to resignation, death, permanent disability, or any other cause.

Henry Van Thio, a 57-year-old ethnic Chin minority, received 79 votes, becoming second vice president of Myanmar. This is first time that an ethnic Chin will have served as vice president. Henry Van Thio, one of Aung San Suu Kyi’s choices for her party’s two presidential candidates, says he will promote ethnic affairs and national reconciliation.

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Counting the votes

Updated on Nov. 13, 6PM local time - (Mouse over the graphic to learn more)

Pyithu Hluttaw (Lower House) - 440 seats


Amyotha Hluttaw (Upper House) - 224 seats

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Key Players

Thein Sein is the current President of Myanmar, in office since March 2011. He will not pursue a second term as president. However, Thein Sein still could be nominated for a second term because Myanmar’s president and two vice presidents need not be elected members of parliament, according to the 2008 constitution drafted under the military-junta regime that previously ruled the country.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing is not contesting in the elections, but plays an important role as the chief of the 500,000-strong military, which still exerts great influence on the country’s politics. He has said the forthcoming elections will be fair and free, and that he would accept whichever party is declared winner by the UEC.

Shwe Mann, is considered one of the most reform-minded members of Myanmar’s former ruling junta. He had made conciliatory overtures to democracy icon and former political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi. However, he was removed from his position as head of Myanmar’s military-backed ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) on Aug. 13, in what appears to have been a purge by President Thein Sein.
Aung San Suu Kyi is the opposition leader and the recipient of the 1991 Nobel Prize for Peace. On July 13, 2015, Aung San Suu Kyi confirmed that her National League for Democracy (NLD) party will contest elections in November, despite her being barred from the presidency. See Aung San Suu Kyi, a Political Destiny

Ko Ko Gyi is the leader of Myanmar’s 88 Generation Student democracy movement. For his protests against the military government, he spent more than 17 years in prison on multiple occasions between 1989 and 2012. He was considered a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. Ko Ko Gyi withdrew from the race after he was overlooked by the NLD as a candidate on the party’s ticket.
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Results of the 2012 By-Elections

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Millions in Myanmar vote in historic election

Some 30 million voters headed to the polls on Nov 8 in elections are seen as a test whether the military's grip on power will loosen, allowing the country to transition toward greater democracy. Myanmar was ruled by a junta for 50 years until 2011, and then for five years by a quasi-civilian government comprising former generals. Photos: RFA/ Myanmar Service
People in Myanmar have waited 25 years for the chance to vote in openly contested elections.
Queues formed outside many polling stations in Myanmar.
People in Myanmar have waited 25 years for the chance to vote in openly contested elections.
People in Myanmar have waited 25 years for the chance to vote in openly contested elections.
A total of 91 parties are contesting, but the main fight is between Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy and the military-backed Union Solidarity Development Party.
A woman casts her vote at a polling station in Myanmar, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2015.
A woman casts her vote at a polling station in Myanmar, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2015.
To prevent fraud, voters fingers are marked with ink after they have cast their ballots
To prevent fraud, voters fingers are marked with ink after they have cast their ballots
To prevent fraud, voters fingers are marked with ink after they have cast their ballots
A man check the voting list
Voting box is sealed.
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Info Graphic

Graphic: Myanmar elections, why should we care?

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Photos

Thura Shwe Mann, USDP candidate
Dr. Thet Thet Khine, NLD candidate
Dr Nyo Nyo Thin, Independent, candidate, currently Member of Yangon Regional Parliament
Nan Kain Paung Tit, USDP candidate
Khin Myo Thwin, NLD candidate
Pyoecho, NLD candidate
Tin Thit, NLD candidate
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Introduction

The Union Election Commission has announced that the election will be held on Nov. 8, 2015.

Myanmar has 83 registered political parties which must contest at least three constituencies each to take part in the polls. Parties must submit their candidate lists to the UEC by Aug. 31, and will be permitted to campaign within 60 days of the election.

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Armed Ethnic Groups

Myanmar's government wants a signed peace accord in place by the Nov. 8 general election so that it can move forward with political dialogue with the country's armed ethnic groups. If the final nationwide cease-fire agreement (NCA) isn't signed before the polls, the UEC could cancel elections in some townships for security reasons. Doing so would cause many residents of unstable ethnic states to lose their chance to vote. It would also result in fewer lawmakers from these states in the Union Parliament.

The 15 armed ethnic groups invited to sign the NCA:
1. KNU – Karen national union
2. KIO – Kachin Independence Organization
3. NMSP – New Mon State Party
4. KNLA (PC) – Karen National Liberation Army (Peace Council)
5. KNPP – Karenni National Progressive Party
6. RCSS - Restoration Council of Shan State
7. ABSDF – All Burma Students Democratic Front
8. PNLO – Pa-Oh National Liberation Org
9. ANC - Arakan National Council
10. DKBA- Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army.
11. LDF - Lahu Democratic Front
12. KNG – Kayan National Guards
13. KNLP– Kayan New Land Party
14. CNF – Chin National Front
15. KNPLF - Kayini National People's Liberation Front

The government has refused to include the following three groups in the NCA:
1. AA - the Arakan Army
2. TNLA – Ta’ang National Liberation Army
3. MNDDA – The ethnic Kokang’s Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army
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Registered Political Parties


1- 88 Generation Democracy Party
2- 88 Generation Student Youths (Union of Myanmar) 1
3- Akha National Development Party
4- All Mon Regions Democracy Party 1
5- All Nationalities Democracy Party (Kayah State)
6- Allied Farmer Party
7- Asho Chin National Party
8- Bamar People’s Party 2
9- Chin League for Democracy 3
10- Chin National Democratic Party 1
11- Chin Progressive Party 1
12- Danu National Democracy Party
13- Danu National Organisation Party
14- Dawei Nationalities Party
15- Democracy and Human Rights Party
16- Democracy and Peace Party 1
17- Democratic Party (Myanmar) 1
18- Democratic Party for a New Society
19- Dynet National Race Development Party
20- Ethnic National Development Party 1
21- Federal Union Party
22- Guiding Star Party
23- Inn Ethnic League
24- Inn National Development Party 1
25- Kachin Democratic Party
26- Kachin National Democracy Congress Party 3
27- Kachin State Democracy Party
28- Kaman National Progressive Party 1
29- Kayah Unity Democracy Party
30- Kayan National Party 1
31- Kayin Democratic Party
32- Kayin National Party 3
33- Kayin People’s Party 1
34- Kayin State Democracy and Development Party 1
35- Khami National Development Party 1
36- Khumi (Khami) National Party
37- Kokang Democracy and Unity Party 1 & 3
38- Lahu National Development Party 1 & 3
39- Lawwaw National Unity and Development Party
40- Lisu National Development Party
41- Modern People’s Party 1
42- Mon National Party 3
43- Mro National Democracy Party
44- Mro National Development Party 1 & 3
45- Mro Nationalities Party
46- Myanma New Society Democratic Party 2
47- Myanmar Farmers’ Development Party
48- Myanmar National Congress Party 2
49- Myanmar Peasant, Worker, People's Party
50- National Democratic Force 1
51- National Democratic Party for Development 1
52- National Development and Peace Party 1
53- National Development Party

54- National League for Democracy 2 & 3
55- National Political Alliance 1
56- National Prosperity Party
57- National Solidarity Congress Party
58- National Unity Party 1 & 3
59- Negotiation, Stability and Peace Party
60- New Era Union Party
61- New National Democracy Party 2
62- New Society Party
63- Pao National Organisation 1
64- Peace and Diversity Party 1
64- People’s Democracy Party 2
65- Phalon-Sawaw Democratic Party 1
66- Public Service Students’ Democracy Party
67- Rakhine National Party (Arakan National Party) 4
68- Rakhine Patriotic Party
69- Rakhine State National Force Party 1
70- Red Shan (Tailai) and Northern Shan Ethnics
71- Solidarity Party
72- Shan Nationalities Democratic Party 1
73- Shan Nationalities League for Democracy 3
74- Shan State East Development Democratic Party
75- Shan State Kokang Democratic Party 3
76- Ta-ang (Palaung) National Party 1
77- Tai Lai (Red Shan) Nationalities Development Party
78- Union Democratic Party 1
79- Union Farmer Force Party
80- Union of Myanmar Federation of National Politics 1
81- Union Pao National Organisation 3
82- Union Solidarity and Development Party 1
83- United Democratic Party 1
84- United Kayin National Democratic Party
85- Unity and Democracy Party of Kachin State 1
86- Wa Democratic Party 1
87- Wa National Unity Party 1
88- Women’s Party (Mon)
89- Wunthanu Democratic Party 1
90- Zo Ethnic Regional Development Party
91- Zomi Congress for Democracy Party 3

1 Registered prior to and contested the 2010 elections
2 Registered prior to and contested the 2012 by-elections
3 1990-era party that re-registered
4 Formed from a merger of the Arakan League for Democracy, which contested in 1990, and the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party, which contested in 2010

One party with registration pending (which has been allowed to submit candidates): All Myanmar Kaman National League for Democracy Party
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