A/HRC/39/CRP.2 media referring to the protests as the “Saffron Revolution”. The SPDC used lethal force to disperse the largely peaceful protests, garnering international condemnation. 87 76. In February 2008, the Government published a proposed new Constitution and announced that it would be subject to a referendum on 10 May 2008. The process had begun in 2004 after a national convention was convened to work on a draft under Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt’s “Roadmap to Democracy”. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi remained under house arrest and the NLD refused to participate in the national convention. Days before the referendum on the draft, on 2 May 2008, Cyclone Nargis made landfall in Myanmar, causing significant destruction in the Ayeyarwady Region and killing an estimated 138,000 people. The SPDC went ahead with the referendum nonetheless and claimed that more than 90 per cent of the voters had approved the draft constitution. 88 A key point of contention concerning the draft was the continued role of the military in the political process. The draft also provided that the President of Myanmar could not be the spouse or parent of a foreign national, a provision designed to exclude Daw Aung Sang Suu Kyi. The NLD alleged that State authorities had frustrated their efforts to campaign against the draft constitution. It rejected the alleged results, noting significant voting irregularities. 89 77. The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won the 2010 general election, which was boycotted by the NLD and other pro-democracy parties, objecting to what were perceived as unfair electoral laws. Retired General Thein Sein, the leader of the USDP, became President, taking over from Than Shwe who had led the junta since 1992. 78. At the national level, the Thein Sein Government implemented a number of important reforms, including freeing most political prisoners, relaxing censorship and restrictions on the media, and permitting greater political and labour union activity, including in relation to freedom of assembly and of association. NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest shortly after the 2010 elections. After negotiations between President Thein Sein and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the NLD contested parliamentary by-elections and won parliamentary seats in April 2012. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi entered parliament as leader of the new NLD group. As a result of the liberalisation, 2011 and 2012 also saw the relaxation of sanctions by Western States and increased foreign investment. In 2014, efforts to amend the constitution to allow Daw Suu to become President and to reduce the role of the military in governing the country were unsuccessful. 79. The significant increase in foreign investment, which more than tripled from USD 901 million in 2010 to USD 3.2 billion in 201690, and the significant levels of foreign aid allocated to Myanmar, with some USD 13.7 billion committed to new projects between 2011 and 2015 (not including Chinese assistance), demonstrate the high level of international goodwill toward Myanmar following its initial steps toward democratization. 91 This contributed to Myanmar’s economic growth rates of approximately 7 per cent per annum since 2015. 2. The role of the military in government after the 2015 elections 80. In the November 2015 general election, the NLD won a sweeping victory, claiming 86 per cent of the non-military seats in the Assembly of the Union (Pyidaungsu Hluttaw), which is effectively about 60 per cent of the total number of seats. On 10 March 2016, U Htin Kyaw and U Henry Van Thio, the chosen candidates of the NLD, became President and Second Vice-President respectively. The military’s candidate, Myint Swe, became First Vice-President. In March 2018, U Htin Kyaw resigned from the position of President. He was replaced by U Win Myint on 30 March 2018. Constitutionally barred from the position 87 88 89 90 91 A/HRC/6/14, paras. 27-28, 30, 38. A/HRC/8/12, para. 15. A/HRC/8/12, para. 24. World Bank, World Development Indicators database, Myanmar (http://databank.worldbank.org/data/views/reports/reportwidget.aspx?Report_Name=CountryProfile& Id=b450fd57&tbar=y&dd=y&inf=n&zm=n&country=MMR) The Asia Foundation, The contested areas of Myanmar – Subnational Conflict, Aid, and Development (2017). 23