As Myanmar gears up for rare elections due next year, eyes are turning to the fate of the country’s ageing military strongman, Than Shwe, and a possible succession, exiled activists say.
Described by critics as reclusive, paranoid and deeply in thrall to astrology, the 76-year-old “Senior General” has ruled the country with an iron grip since 1992, but is now in the twilight of his career.
A new Constitution approved in a widely criticized referendum last year says that the State Peace and Development Council — the junta that Than Shwe heads — must hand over power to a new national assembly after the elections.
PHOTO: AFP
Than Shwe may take over the new presidential position provided for by the Constitution to maintain his hold on power, opposition activists living in exile in Thailand said.
But after constantly striving to increase his power, he now faces underlying resentment from within the regime, the activists say.
When he eventually quits, “Than Shwe will make sure his future is safe,” said Naing Aung, secretary general of the Forum for Democracy in Burma.
She added, however: “Than Shwe has only close circles with him. He is an isolated man.”
Aung Naing Oo, a Myanmar political analyst in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, predicted it would be “interesting to see how he leaves politics because he cannot leave right away.”
“If he retains a formal position, it means he is not leaving. If he doesn’t, then he will be protected for quite some time” by keeping his aides close to him, he said.
Than Shwe will be well aware of the fate of several previous leaders since the military took control of Myanmar in 1962.
Ex-dictator Ne Win, who ruled the country between 1962 and 1988, died under house arrest in 2002 and was not granted a state funeral, while several members of his family were sent to jail. The official press hardly mentioned his death.
Than Shwe himself presided over a purge of the military intelligence service that ended with the sentencing of ex-prime minister Khin Nyunt to 44 years’ house arrest in 1994.
“He may not want to retire, but under the Constitution he may have to. He will put someone he really trusts like his son,” said Win Min, an academic at Chiang Mai university and a pro-democracy activist.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS