Six newly re-elected members of Myanmar’s Union parliament did not take part in a single legislative debate during their previous terms in office.
That was the finding of Ananda Data, a research group that tracks the activities of the country’s elected officials and the performance of its political institutions.
By analysing parliamentary records, the group found that a total of 17 MPs had failed to table a single proposal or ask any questions during their five-year terms in parliament.
Of this number, six—including four members of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD)—won re-election despite their records of inactivity, the group said.
“To not speak up even once during a regular meeting over the past five years is a sign of their weakness as representatives,” Ananda Data director Htin Kyaw Aye told Myanmar Now.
The four NLD representatives are Saw Bi San Thein Myint, the Amyotha Hluttaw MP for Karen State’s constituency No. (9), and three Pyithu Hluttaw MPs: Zaw Min (Okpho township, Bago region), Dr Khin Saung (Kyaikto township, Mon state), and Win Swe (Mawlamyine Kyun, Ayeyarwady region).
The other two re-elected representatives with a record of inactivity are Pyithu Hluttaw MPs from Shan state: Htun Kyaw, of the Ta’ang National Party (TNP), who represents Namkham township, and Li Kyein Fu (also known as Myint Swe), of the military backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), who represents Konkyan township.
Su Su Lwin, an NLD member and the wife of former president Htin Kyaw, was also among the 17 representatives identified by Ananda as inactive MPs.
Some of the MPs singled out for criticism suggested that the criteria used by Ananda to determine their level of activity were too narrow.
The group said it based its assessment mainly on parliamentary records that showed who tabled motions, who took part in discussions, and who asked questions during meetings.
However, Zaw Min, who is also a member of the Pyithu Hluttaw’s energy development committee, argued that this did not accurately reflect the way parliament actually works.
He noted, for example, that only questions marked with a star, which have to be answered in parliament by the ministers they are addressed to, are recorded. Others can be answered through official letters and therefore go unrecorded, he said.
He told Myanmar Now that he didn’t ask starred questions because they take up to five months to get a response, whereas other questions are usually answered within three weeks.
His constituents said that they were satisfied with his performance as their representative, despite his apparent lack of involvement in parliamentary debates.
“He actually goes on a lot of field trips and often talks to the people,” said Tun Tun Oo, a resident of A Pho Aye, a village in Okpho township’s Na Nwin Kone village tract.
Dr Khin Saung, who also won re-election despite his lack of activity in parliament, said that he did table a starred question once, but received a reply in writing, and so the exchange was never recorded.
Like Zaw Min, he said his focus was on regional development. He added that he also had party duties.
“I took on the role of chair of the NLD’s executive committee for Mon state. So that might be why I have been inactive in parliament,” he said.
Ananda Data’s Htin Kyaw Aye dismissed these objections, however, saying that MPs had a duty to fulfil their primary roles, which include keeping the government in check, drafting new laws, and representing their constituents at the national level.
Others suggested that the problem stems in part from Myanmar’s political culture. They noted that MPs who do function effectively are not always rewarded for their efforts.
“The media and political analysts talk about representatives who are unqualified or who fail to fulfil their responsibilities. But those who do try to check and balance the government often get left out in the next election,” said Ye Tun, a Pyithu Hluttaw representative for Hsipaw in Shan state.
Ko Ko Gyi, the chair of the People’s Party, put much of the blame on the ruling party. The NLD’s way of campaigning seems to favour weak candidates, he said, by consistently emphasising party affiliation over qualifications.
“We saw so many MPs just sitting around during the previous term. Of course it’s a big loss for voters if the people they elected aren’t doing any solid work in parliament,” he said.
