CONTEXT:

• In the wake of the upcoming State elections, the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) has filed a petition in the Supreme Court, seeking a stay in the electoral bond. The Supreme Court recently flagged its concern that political parties could misuse crores of rupees received as donations through electoral bonds to bankroll violent protests or even terror.

 ABOUT ELECTORAL BONDS :                                                                                                                                                                                         

• Electoral Bond is a financial instrument for making donations to political parties.
• The bonds are issued in multiples of Rs. 1,000, Rs. 10,000, Rs. 1 lakh, Rs. 10 lakh and Rs. 1 crore without any maximum limit.
• State Bank of India is authorised to issue and encash these bonds, which are valid for fifteen days from the date of issuance.
• These bonds are redeemable in the designated account of a registered political party.
• The bonds are available for purchase by any person (who is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India) for a period of ten days each in the months of January, April, July and October as may be specified by the Central Government.
• A person being an individual can buy bonds, either singly or jointly with other individuals. Donor’s name is not mentioned on the bond.

• Myanmar’s military declared a one-year state of emergency on Monday (Feb 1) and appointed Myint Swe as acting president, after arresting civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint along with other senior officials. Immediately after he was named president, Myint Swe handed power to the country’s top military commander, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing. The military said it would hold a “free and fair general election” after the emergency is over.

Why this happened?

• The bone of contention is the alleged fraud during the elections on November 8 last year in which the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) scored a landslide victory, and the military-backed Union Solidarity Development Party (USDP) was humbled. The NLD won 396 of the 476 elected seats in the two Houses of parliament while the USDP won just 33 seats. As many as 25 per cent of the seats (166) are reserved for the military in both Houses.
• The military alleged discrepancies such as duplicated names on voting lists in scores of districts and was unhappy with the election commission’s response to its complaints.
• The military did not say if irregularities were substantial enough to have changed the election outcome. Its grievance was similar to that of the (USDP), the former ruling party created by the military before it officially ceded power in 2011. The USDP, widely seen as a military proxy.