Breaking Myanmar's Election Corruption Cycle

Largely ignoring problems over the decades, Myanmar has a long record of electoral corruption and fraud. Electoral corruption undermines the domestic legitimacy and authority of Myanmar’s government authorities and governance. Therefore, authorities should act as quickly as possible to regulate corruption to manage the actual negative externalities arising from elections in Myanmar.

Myanmar’s Union Election Commission (UEC) holds the 2015 election in November. Citizens can anticipate a very high risk of electoral corruption, election rigging and changing, regulation adjustment, voter intimidation, ballot box stuffing, electoral malfeasance and electoral fraud. If the 2015 election is to be characterised by integrity and accountability, Myanmar must mitigate the risk of election corruption.

Elections within Myanmar have become a moneymaking business, instead of one that focuses on increasing the quality of elected public officials. The problem is that cronies-turned-politicians are attaining power with financial as well as monetary assistance. Only two political figures have asserted that government policy must tackle corruption — Opposition Leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Speaker of the Upper House Khin Aung Myint. But the most of members of parliament are not accountable and accessible to the people, as they have been handpicked by corrupt elections. The election system itself is damaged; Myanmar cannot expect self-respect, ethics and integrity from the candidates as well as politicians chosen by the program.

There have been few debates upon national strategy and coverage priorities regarding election problem. Instead, political parties as well as opportunistic politicians have been approaching cronies for financing, and playing the religion card — a doubtful action in a secular democracy.

Worldwide, there are a variety of anti-corruption techniques to manage electoral corruption and fraud, and Myanmar’s authorities should use them to reply to electoral corruption effectively.

Myanmar needs to expose a leadership code package, which would use regulation to avoid the abuse of public power. Electing contenders as well as candidates in transparent as well as accountable ways is essential. Foundation the code on a social contract between the ruler and the ruled. If there is a responsive leadership code, do not force the people to sacrifice their rights to rulers who declare that they are the country’s leaders.

Myanmar must improve the quality of guideline of law and to boost the integrity of the UEC. The legal and technical systems from the UEC should be reliable and respected. As of 2015, the people are losing trust and confidence in the UEC due to Myanmar’s problematic legal and judicial system. Myanmar must reinvent the UEC being an organisation that respects civilians, business leaders and non-military staff. The legal system, and the regulations of the UEC, must have higher requirements of morality and ethics. They have to be trustworthy within the eyes of both the citizenry and the international community.

Regulate the revenue and expenditure aspects of campaign financing transparently. As it presently stands, Myanmar’s political shareholders and donors can purchase ballots and influence voters. Declare political party revenues; and corporate, foreign and anonymous funding for elections must be limited, if not banned. Candidates should be required to record their expenditure, including marketing, personal expenses and the quantity of election money used. Applicants and donors should declare all payments, names and addresses to increase transparency. Further, independent external audits must examine candidates’ expenditure and revenue in addition to political parties’ financing and funds. The UEC must disclose election funding for all contenders and chosen candidates to the country.

The UEC ought to further enhance the integrity and impartiality of the 2015 election by inviting international election monitoring groups and observers (such as the United nations Electoral Assistance Division) to observe all processes of the election. Installing an impartial election monitoring system will provide a tool for controlling electoral fraud and corruption within Myanmar. They should invite observers and advisory missions from market democracies who’ve the technical expertise, know-how as well as experience. They can help ensure impartiality in election process, such as voter registration, rules and legislation, voter education and fairness associated with campaign financing.

Finally, independent media (particularly research-oriented press and surveillance journalism) should be encouraged as an effective anti-corruption measure. Myanmar’s media can enjoy a key role in monitoring and educating the public regarding electoral corruption. They can then investigate cases of corrupt officials as well as election fraud.

Election corruption in Myanmar is neither a demand–supply problem nor a principal–agent problem. It is a triangle of corruption between political parties, contenders and their cronies and funders. There are a variety of ways to reduce the high rates of electoral corruption in Myanmar. To ensure integrity and accountability for the 2015 election, Myanmar needs to introduce a smart regulatory framework with adequate legal enforcement that guarantees all stakeholders must play by the rules.

Myanmar’s elections need a fraud-free makeover is actually republished with permission from Eastern Asia Forum