Than Shwe’s days in top spot are numbered

The Nation
Myint Thein
Tue 18 Dec 2007


Killing Buddhist monks is not the same thing as killing students in Burma. When Than Shwe mass-murdered Buddhist monks, he activated a religious “poison pill” that will destroy him. We do not expect Than Shwe to survive for more than another six months.

But the problem in Burma goes beyond dictator Than Shwe.

A retired Burmese ambassador told me that the Burmese army never learned how to govern the country. He cited the example of Zaw Tun, the former deputy economics minister. Zaw Tun graduated from the prestigious St Paul’s High School and was Than Shwe’s aide-de-camp.

Zaw Tun publicly complained that regional commanders were providing inflated economic statistics to impress Than Shwe. For this honesty, Zaw Tun, despite his former close ties to Than Shwe, was asked to resign.

This is why last year I sent a feature article in The Wall Street Journal to a senior general about the Communist Party of China sending their future leaders to the US to learn how to govern. Some were trained at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and others at graduate schools of public administration at America’s leading universities.

The next military leader of Burma has a clear choice. He can negotiate in good faith at a neutral site in Singapore, or face an armed national uprising.

Myint Thein is Senior Adviser to the Burmese Resistance