• Burmese
Tuesday, July 8, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
28 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

Censorship Remains a Big Challenge for Incoming Parliament

Kyaw Ye lynn by Kyaw Ye lynn
February 1, 2016
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0 0
A A
Censorship Remains a Big Challenge for Incoming Parliament

Senior NLD member Htin Kyaw at the first session of the new Parliament on Monday. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

4.1k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Burma, once ruled by one of the most repressive regimes in the world, has entered into a new era as the parliament led by the National League for Democracy (NLD) convened on February 1, 2016 for the first time.

The NLD, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, won a landslide election last November 2015 defeating the then ruling and military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).

But despite this recent development, old issues have remained. Among them, the continuing restrictions on free expression and press freedom.

RelatedPosts

Drafting Voters as Cannon-Fodder; Rewarding Lackey Ladies; and More

Drafting Voters as Cannon-Fodder; Rewarding Lackey Ladies; and More

July 5, 2025
895
Tree-Planting Hides Logging Frenzy; Moving Mountains for Steel Production; and More

Tree-Planting Hides Logging Frenzy; Moving Mountains for Steel Production; and More

June 14, 2025
1.2k
Yadaya: How Myanmar’s Junta Boss Hopes to Hex His Way to Presidency

Yadaya: How Myanmar’s Junta Boss Hopes to Hex His Way to Presidency

May 29, 2025
1.8k

Limited Access

Covering the sessions of the previous parliament was not that easy, journalists said.

“In the beginning, you couldn’t ask questions to the lawmakers,” said Aung Htet, a senior reporter of the Voice Weekly, a local publication.

“We had five minutes to enter the assembly hall. Interviews and photographs are allowed [only] during these five minutes,” added Aung Htet who has been covering the parliament since 2011.

Journalists were not permitted to enter the Parliament chambers in April 2015 after photos of sleeping lawmakers were published online. The following month, journalists negotiated with Burmese officials to restore their access.

Since then, reporters in the capital Naypyidaw have to make do watching the proceedings from a television in the parliament’s corridor.

“We informed the NLD about it, but (there is) no reply yet,” Aung Htet said.

Other pictures, which showed members of the parliament (MP) using their tablets while at work and an army representative leaning over the desk of an absent MP to press a voting button, were also published.

Kyaw Soe, director general of the Union Parliament who handles administrative duties, cited the public release of these photos as the main reason for the rules on the conduct of the media during sessions.

The restrictions did not only apply to journalists, but also to MPs.

“USDP lawmakers had to pass censors before discussion in parliament all the time,” said Thura U Aung Ko, who was ousted from his role as a central committee member of President Thein Sein’s USDP.

“We can only discuss issues in accordance with the party policy,” Thura U Aung Ko said on his last day as an MP on 29 January 2016.

In Transition

In the 2010 general elections, the USDP led by the ex-generals of the former junta dominated while NLD boycotted the polls.

The quasi-civilian government of President Thein Sein, a former general, restored some civil liberties including the relaxation of media restrictions. In August 2012, the authorities ended the (pre-publication) censorship regime of the local publications. This media-related development has become the linchpin of Burma’s reform process, even as concerns about self-censorship and other attacks against the media continued.

Media freedom advocate groups in the country said the policy has not gone far enough to introduce a “normal” media environment under the quasi-civilian government. Radio and television licenses have yet to be liberalized; and access to information and government officials remains almost impossible.

These issues indicate that free expression and press freedom remain at a fragile stage.

NLD, on its way to becoming the main opposition party, won 43 out of the 44 parliament seats vacated by Thein Sein cabinet members during the by-elections in April 2012.

Its victory last November 2015 gave journalists hope for an improved media and press freedom landscape.

“I believe the NLD knows the role of media in the democratic transition, and will respect the right to information,” said Aung Thura, a member of the Myanmar Journalist Network.

“Daw Suu has invited us to give advice related to the media situation here,” he said.

Meanwhile, Suu Kyi is under criticism for blocking the party’s spokesperson from talking to the media about the party policy shortly after its election victory.

Her order raised concerns whether NLD lawmakers can discuss in the parliament freely or not.

“She just restricts us before the power transfer,” said Win Htein of the NLD. “Don’t worry for freedom of expression in parliament as well as in the country. We respect and value the press freedom.”

This article first appeared here on the Southeast Asian Press Alliance.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: ElectionMediaParliament
Kyaw Ye lynn

Kyaw Ye lynn

Similar Picks:

Myanmar Junta Counteroffensives Failing Across Country: Analysts
Analysis

Myanmar Junta Counteroffensives Failing Across Country: Analysts

by Hein Htoo Zan
September 20, 2024
16.8k

Three major operations to retake territory from ethnic armies and their allies are being hampered by troop shortages, experts say.

Read moreDetails
Elon Musk Calls for Closure of Radio Free Europe, Voice of America
World

Elon Musk Calls for Closure of Radio Free Europe, Voice of America

by Naung Naung
February 10, 2025
7.1k

The billionaire’s call to shut down the US-funded media organizations, which reach hundreds of millions of people globally, follows his...

Read moreDetails
Illustration entitled ‘Rebellious Reporters’ by Harn Lay for The Irrawaddy.
Specials

Our Fight For Press Freedom

by The Irrawaddy
May 3, 2024
103.4k

To mark World Press Freedom Day, The Irrawaddy presents a compendium of its articles on press freedom and the repression...

Read moreDetails
Burma

Myanmar Junta Rages Against E. Timor President After Defection Call

by The Irrawaddy
December 14, 2023
5.2k

The regime’s newspapers were filled with tirades against José Ramos-Horta after he urged junta troops to defect, and its backers...

Read moreDetails
Junta Watch: Football Field Dreams Amid Battlefield Disasters; Regime Propaganda’s Parallel Reality; and More
Junta Watch

Junta Watch: Football Field Dreams Amid Battlefield Disasters; Regime Propaganda’s Parallel Reality; and More

by The Irrawaddy
January 20, 2024
4.5k

Also this week, China appeased after Taiwan election, forced recruitment as resistance threatens to decouple main cities, power plea for...

Read moreDetails
Former Myanmar 88 Gen Leader Opens People’s Party Office in Yangon 
Burma

Former Myanmar 88 Gen Leader Opens People’s Party Office in Yangon 

by The Irrawaddy
January 29, 2024
4.2k

Ko Ko Gyi has endorsed a junta election plan widely condemned as a sham aimed at cementing the military’s grip...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
New Parliament another Stepping Stone in a Long Struggle

New Parliament another Stepping Stone in a Long Struggle

NLD Launches ‘Sharing’ Program for Poor Schoolchildren

NLD Launches ‘Sharing’ Program for Poor Schoolchildren

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Myanmar Regime Leader Rejects World Bank Economic Forecast as Inaccurate

Myanmar Regime Leader Rejects World Bank Economic Forecast as Inaccurate

5 days ago
1.5k
From Foreign Policy Drift to Diplomatic Freefall in Myanmar

From Foreign Policy Drift to Diplomatic Freefall in Myanmar

7 days ago
2.1k

Most Read

  • Myanmar Junta Starves Last Rakhine Strongholds as AA Closes In

    Myanmar Junta Starves Last Rakhine Strongholds as AA Closes In

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar’s Civilian Govt Rebuffs Junta’s Appeal for ‘Cooperation’

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar’s Strongest Armed Ethnic Alliance is Faltering

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • TNLA Defies Myanmar Junta Push to Cede Shan Towns in China Talks  

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Timor-Leste Hits Back at Myanmar Junta’s Objection to ASEAN Membership

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.