2016 Myanmar presidential election

Indirect presidential elections were held in Myanmar on 15 March 2016, after the 2015 general election. Members of the Assembly of the Union voted for the country's President, and two Vice-Presidents.

2016 Myanmar presidential election

15 March 2016
Turnout	652 (99.2%)
Nominee Htin Kyaw Myint Swe Henry Van Thio Party NLD USDP NLD Electoral vote 360 213 79 Percentage 55.2% 32.7% 12.1% Committee Pyithu Hluttaw Tatmadaw Amyotha Hluttaw
President before election Thein Sein USDP Elected President Htin Kyaw NLD
Vice Presidents before election Sai Mauk Kham (First) USDP Nyan Tun (Second) USDP Elected Vice Presidents Myint Swe (First) USDP Henry Van Thio (Second) NLD

The elections were the second presidential elections held under the 2008 constitution.

Htin Kyaw, Myint Swe, and Henry Van Thio were elected President, First Vice-President, and Second-Vice President respectively.

Background

Myanmar, previously known as Burma, has been under a dictatorship for the majority of its independent history. First, under Ne Win and his Burma Socialist Programme Party, and then under a military junta. In 2007, large scale demonstrations took place during the Saffron Revolution, which was organized by the vast monastic community of Myanmar. The revolution was suppressed, but lead to political reforms and the 2008 constitution.

In the yearly 2010s, Myanmar transitioned into a state of semi-democracy, finally culminating in the 2015 elections, where democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi became State Counsellor, and her party the National League for Democracy won a landslide victory. This put the party in a very powerful position ahead of the presidential elections.

Electoral system

Under the 2008 constitution, Myanmar has a President, and two Vice-Presidents. They are elected by the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, the national legislature.

The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw consists of two chambers, Pyithu Hluttaw, and Amyotha Hluttaw. Most seats are directly elected, but a quarter of the seats in both chambers are appointed by the Tatmadaw.

Chamber	Type	MPs
Pyithu Hluttaw	Directly-elected	330
	Military-appointed	110
Amyotha Hluttaw	Directly-elected	168
	Military-appointed	56

The Presidential Electoral College is made up of three committees:

• The directly elected MPs from Pyithu Hluttaw (330).
• The directly elected MPs from Amyotha Hluttaw (168).
• The military appointees in both chambers (166).

Each committee nominates a single candidate. The whole Pyidaungsu Hluttaw then votes, with all three nominees on the ballot together and each of the 664 MPs being entitled to one vote. The vote is a secret ballot. The candidate that receives the highest number of votes is President, the candidate with the second highest number of votes is 1st Vice-President, and the remaining candidate is 2nd Vice-President. This system guarantees the military at least one Vice-President.

Candidates

The candidates were nominated on 11 March 2016.

Pyithu Hluttaw committee

Htin Kyaw was nominated by the committee from Pyithu Hluttaw. He was not a member of parliament. Sai Mauk Kham, incumbent 1st Vice-President, was nominated by the USDP. Thein Sein, the committee nominee in the 2011 election did not run for re-election.

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Htin Kyaw	National League for Democracy	274	90.43
	Sai Mauk Kham (incumbent)	Union Solidarity and Development Party	29	9.57
Total			303	100.00
Valid votes			303	95.58
Invalid/blank votes			14	4.42
Total votes			317	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			323	98.14
Source: The Irrawdday

Seven Pyithu Hluttaw seats were vacant.

Amyotha Hluttaw committee

Henry Van Thio was nominated by the committee from Amyotha Hluttaw. He was a member of that house from the Chin State's 3rd constituency. The USDP nominated former Speaker of the Amyotha Hluttaw Khin Aung Myint, who was a member of that house from Mandalay's 8th constituency. He had also served as Minister of Culture under the junta. Sai Mauk Kham, the committee's nominee in the previous election was instead nominated by the Pyithu Hluttaw.

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Henry Van Thio	National League for Democracy	148	91.93
	Khin Aung Myint	Union Solidarity and Development Party	13	8.07
Total			161	100.00
Valid votes			161	96.41
Invalid/blank votes			6	3.59
Total votes			167	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			168	99.40
Source: The Irrawdday

Military committee

Myint Swe was nominated by the committee of military appointed members. He was Chief Minister of the Yangon Region. He is a member of the USDP. Nyan Tun, incumbent 2nd Vice-President who was nominated by the Tatmadaw committee in the 2012 by-election did not run for re-election.

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Myint Swe	Union Solidarity and Development Party	166	100.00
Total			166	100.00
Total votes			166	–
Registered voters/turnout			166	100.00
Source: The Irrawdday

Results

The election was held on 15 March 2016.

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Htin Kyaw (elected president)	National League for Democracy	360	55.21
	Myint Swe (elected first vice-president)	Union Solidarity and Development Party	213	32.67
	Henry Van Thio (elected second vice-president)	National League for Democracy	79	12.12
Total			652	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			657	–
Source: The Irrawdday

Seven Pyithu Hluttaw seats were vacant.

The elected candidates were sworn in on 30 March 2016.

2018 by-election

A by-election was held for president in 2018.