South East Asian Trips

Myanmar has been ruled by successive military regimes for many years now, and the present regime especially has crushed all opposition ruthlessly. The main activist for pro-democracy movements, the Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, remains under house arrest, her party members and supporters are troubled and imprisoned by the authorities.

Myanmar's chief of state and head of government is General Soe Win, who holds the post of Prime Minister. The cabinet is in the form of a military junta, and legislative functions are performed by a unicameral Parliament.

Suffrage in the country is universal, and the voting age is 18 years. Elections, however, are in name only; although the country voted overwhelmingly for democracy in 1990, the military regime summarily declared the elections invalid.