section_path: History/Period of liberalisation, 2011–2021
section_name: Period of liberalisation, 2011–2021
paragraph_text: Period of liberalisation, 2011–2021
  
  The military-backed Government had promulgated a "Roadmap to Discipline-flourishing Democracy" in 1993, but the process appeared to stall several times, until 2008 when the Government published a new draft national constitution, and organised a (flawed) national referendum which adopted it. The new constitution provided for election of a national assembly with powers to appoint a president, while practically ensuring army control at all levels.
  
  A general election in 2010 – the first for twenty years – was boycotted by the NLD. The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party declared victory, stating that it had been favoured by 80 per cent of the votes; fraud, however, was alleged. A nominally civilian government was then formed, with retired general Thein Sein as president.
  
  A series of liberalising political and economic actions – or reforms – then took place. By the end of 2011 these included the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, the establishment of the National Human Rights Commission, the granting of general amnesties for more than 200 political prisoners, new labour laws that permitted labour unions and strikes, a relaxation of press censorship, and the regulation of currency practices. In response, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Myanmar in December 2011 – the first visit by a US Secretary of State in more than fifty years – meeting both President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
  
  Aung San Suu Kyi 's NLD party participated in the 2012 by-elections, facilitated by the government's abolition of the laws that previously barred it. In the April 2012 by-elections, the NLD won 43 of the 45 available seats. The 2012 by-elections were also the first time that international representatives were allowed to monitor the voting process in Myanmar.
  
  Myanmar's improved international reputation was indicated by ASEAN 's approval of Myanmar's bid for the position of ASEAN chair in 2014.