Myanmar Times-Oct 3

A recent survey showed that the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government still has a satisfactory approval rating, but critics warned the poll results could be misleading.

The People’s Alliance for Credible Elections (PACE) released the Citizens’ Mid-term Perceptions of Government Performance last week, which showed that about half of those surveyed said the rights of people under the present government have improved compared to the previous government.

U Sai Ye Kyaw Swa Myint, executive director of PACE, said over 2300 people responded to the survey.

Less than half, however, said they did not see any improvement in the national peace process and the conflicts besetting the country.   “About 48 percent of the people said they saw improvement under the NLD-led government. They said politics, peace and the economy are better. It can be said that they are still optimistic about the government,” said U Sai Ye Kyaw Swa Myint.  PACE conducted the survey over seven days from May 3 to 9.

The poll showed that 60pc of the respondents said it was important that the country achieve full democracy.

PACE said its survey is aimed at helping the government improve its performance in the last two years of its time in office. It also hopes to give the political parties hints about the concerns and priorities of voters.

The NLD’s election promises of economic development, national reconciliation and peace process, and constitutional amendment were popular with the public, according to the survey.   The respondents said that while democracy under the government had improved, Myanmar is still far from achieving full democracy.   Most respondents said that chief ministers of regions and states should be directly elected, and 26pc said more authority should be given to regional and state governments.

But critics said the survey questions just required a simple “yes” or “no” answer, without giving respondents a chance to explain their choices.

They noted that during the past few months there have been increasing complaints about the performance of the government.

Among the major criticisms are the slow economy, the lack of progress in the peace process, not enough freedom of speech, and failure to implement campaign promises.

They particularly cited the failure of the government to convince powerful armed ethnic groups such as the Northern Alliance to sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement and join the peace process.

The renewed violence in northern Rakhine State in August 2017 triggered intense criticism by the international community of the government’s perceived failure to address the problem.

The intense criticism has businessmen worried that the government could face possible economic sanctions.

U Khin Maung Swe, chairman of the National Democratic Force, said the only reason the people like the government is because they dislike the Tatmadaw (military) and the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).    ‘’People who lack political awareness still support the NLD because they hate the military and USDP. Another reason is they voted for it and still hope the NLD can do something for them,” U Khin Maung Swe added.

U Parmaukkha, a nationalist monk, predicted that a new coalition government could emerge after the 2020 elections if the NLD fails to make good on its promises.

‘’The problem is that the NLD holds tight to centralised power and has no power-sharing experience,” U Parmaukkha said. He said the NLD needs to use the people’s power to amend the 2008 constitution. The NLD won over 80pc of parliamentary seats in the 2015 general election, but it won only eight out of 19 seats in the 2017 by-election in ethnic-controlled areas of Shan, Rakhine, Chin, Kayah and Mon states.

This should serve as a warning that the NLD might not win all the 13 seats being contested in the by-elections on November 3. The NLD will field candidates for all the vacant seats, including six in Kachin, Shan, Rakhine and Chin.

On Sunday, an alliance of 27 political parties, including the USDP, released a statement blaming the NLD government for the economic decline and increasing instability in the country.

‘https://www.mmtimes.com/news/critics-doubt-new-survey-showing-public-happy-nld-govt.html