Burma’s Union Parliament on Friday approved a bill amending the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Law, effectively empowering the parliament’s speaker to choose a voting method – i.e. show of hands, rising vote or computerised vote – for adopting bills.

Burma’s bicameral parliament today unanimously approved a bill to establish “a Union based on the principles of democracy and federalism”.

Critics have accused the NLD-led government of over-promising and under-delivering on legislative reform.

Burma’s Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture has submitted the initial draft of an Anti-Hate Speech Law to parliament.

The motion noted concerns over “sovereignty, the rule of law, stability, and peace," and blamed the Northern Alliance.

Two Union Solidarity and Development Party representatives who won seats in the election last year have been found guilty of breaching the electoral law in their political campaigns.