National League for Democracy

This article is about Burmese political party. For Tanzanian political party, see National League for Democracy (Tanzania).

National League for Democracy
အမျိုးသား ဒီမိုကရေစီ အဖွဲ့ချုပ်
AbbreviationNLD
LeaderAung San Suu Kyi
Founders
Founded27 September 1988 (36 years ago) (1988-09-27)
Banned28 March 2023 (2023-03-28)
Headquarters97B West Shwe Gon Daing Road, Bahan Township, Yangon[1]
Ideology
Political positionCentre[2]
Regional affiliationCouncil of Asian Liberals and Democrats (observer)
ColoursRed
Party flag
Website
nld-official.org (dead)
(7 March 2021 archive)
Preview warning: Page using Template:Infobox political party with unknown parameter "Armed wing"
This article contains Burmese script. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Burmese script.

The National League for Democracy (Burmese: အမျိုးသား ဒီမိုကရေစီ အဖွဲ့ချုပ်, IPA: [ʔəmjóðá dìmòkəɹèsì ʔəpʰwḛdʑoʊʔ]; abbr. NLD; Burmese abbr. ဒီချုပ်) is a deregistered liberal democratic political party in Myanmar (formerly Burma). It became the country's ruling party after a landslide victory in the 2015 general election but was overthrown in a coup d'état in February 2021 following another landslide election victory in 2020.[3]

Founded on 27 September 1988, the NLD has become one of the most influential parties in Myanmar's pro-democracy movement. Aung San Suu Kyi, the former State Counsellor of Myanmar, serves as its leader. The party won a substantial parliamentary majority in the 1990 Myanmar general election. However, the ruling military junta refused to recognise the result. On 6 May 2010, the party was declared illegal and ordered to be disbanded by the junta after refusing to register for the elections slated for November 2010.[4] In November 2011, the NLD announced its intention to register as a political party to contest future elections, and Myanmar's Union Election Commission approved their application for registration on 13 December 2011.[5]

In the 2012 by-elections, the NLD contested 44 of the 45 available seats, winning 43, with its only loss being in one seat to the SNDP.[6] Party leader Aung San Suu Kyi won the seat of Kawhmu.[7] In the 2015 general election, the NLD won a supermajority in both houses of the Assembly, paving the way for the country's first non-military president in 54 years. The NLD is an observer party of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats.

On 21 May 2021, the junta-controlled Union Election Commission (UEC) announced plans to permanently dissolve the NLD, though the junta later temporarily reversed this decision. In January 2023, the junta enacted a new electoral law designed to favor the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), the military's electoral proxy, leading the NLD to announce that it would not re-register as a political party.[8] On 28 March 2023, the UEC dissolved the NLD for failing to register, a decision which the NLD rejected as illegitimate.[9]

  1. ^ Frangos, Alex; Patrick Barta (30 March 2012). "Once-Shunned Quarters Becomes Tourist Mecca". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2 April 2012.[permanent dead link‍]
  2. ^ Derbyshire, ed. (2016). Encyclopedia of World Political Systems. Routledge. p. 108. ISBN 9781317471561. Archived from the original on 12 April 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  3. ^ Mahtani, Shibani. "Myanmar military seizes power in coup after detaining Aung San Suu Kyi". The Washington post. Archived from the original on 1 February 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  4. ^ "National League for Democracy disbanded in Myanmar". Haiti News. 4 May 2010. Archived from the original on 27 April 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
  5. ^ Suu Kyi's Myanmar opposition party wins legal status Archived 4 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine, The Associated Press, 13 December 2011
  6. ^ "It is the victory of the people: Aung San Suu Kyi on Myanmar – World News – IBNLive". Ibnlive.in.com. 10 May 2011. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
  7. ^ "Myanmar election commission announces NLD wins overwhelmingly in by-elections". Xinhua. 2 April 2012. Archived from the original on 29 December 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  8. ^ "Myanmar's opposition party refuses to re-register under new junta law". Radio Free Asia. 6 February 2023. Archived from the original on 12 February 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  9. ^ Min Ye Kyaw; Rebecca Ratcliffe (28 March 2023). "Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party dissolved". The Guardian. Bangkok, Thailand. Archived from the original on 29 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.