Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to facilitate a transition in Burma from dictatorship to democracy.

Mr Hugo Swire

The United Kingdom has supported Burma’s reform process which started in 2011 and led to the parliamentary elections on 8 November. We have allocated around £25m over five years to strengthen democratic governance in Burma. This included support to the elections through the provision of technical advice to the Burmese election commission, voter education and monitoring and observation of the electoral process. While the elections were not perfect, they were largely peaceful, orderly and well–run on the day. We are monitoring closely the tabulation of the voting and the formation of the next government which will follow. We hope to continue our policy of engagement with the next Burmese government to continue to encourage Burma along its journey of democratic reform.