Inner circle rewarded
Junta boss Min Aung Hlaing marked the traditional New Year on Thursday by granting honorary titles to ministers wanted for genocide and sanctioned by the EU and Switzerland.
Among those awarded the Sithu title for “excellence in national development” was Shan State Chief Minister Lieutenant General Aung Aung, who along with Min Aung Hlaing and his deputy Soe Win faces an Argentinian arrest warrant over genocide against the Rohingya. Also handed New Year Sithu titles were State Administration Council (SAC) member Porel Aung Thein, sanctioned by Switzerland, and EU-sanctioned SAC member Dr Hmu Htan.
Lt-Gen Aung Aung, known for his slavish loyalty to Min Aung Hlaing, was sanctioned by the US and Britain four years before the 2021 coup over the 2017 crackdown on the Rohingya in Rakhine State. As chief of the 33rd Light Infantry Division (LID), he led what the regime described as “clearance operations” in Rakhine.
After the putsch, he oversaw brutal military operations in Shan and Karenni states, before being appointed Shan State chief minister last year. In February, he received more “official recognition”, this time from an Argentina court over his actions in Rakhine.
Min Aung Hlaing also chose to honor Electricity Minister Nyan Tun, head of arguably Myanmar’s most criticized ministry, granting him the Thiri Pyanchi title for his stellar performance in ensuring a power supply of just eight hours per day, split into two four-hour slots.
Citizens enduring 16-hour daily power outages were no doubt left speechless by Min Aung Hlaing’s appraisal of his cabinet, which coincided with record-breaking power outages since the 2021 coup.
Rakhine State chief minister Htein Lin was another Thiri Pyanchi recipient. He currently controls just three towns – Sittwe, Manaung, and Kyaukphyu – across a vast western state that has been overrun by the ethnic Arakan Army.
Keeping it in the family
The junta boss also bestowed third-class Thiha Thudhamma Theingi titles on his generals’ wives for their “generous donations to promote Buddhism.” Recipients included the spouses of SAC secretary Aung Lwin Dwe, military intelligence chief Ye Win Oo, transport minister Mya Tun Oo, PM’s office minister Tin Aung San, defense minister Maung Maung Aye, SAC member Nyo Saw, border affairs minister Yar Pyae, chief of general staff Kyaw Swar Lin, air force chief Tun Aung, SAC chairman’s office minister Moe Aung, and other retired generals.
The awards came a month after Min Aung Hlaing handed the second-class Thiri Thudhama Theingi to spouses of deputy Soe Win, and former vice presidents and ministers. The junta boss’s own wife, Kyu Kyu Hla, has basked in the first-class title of Agga Maha Thiri Thudhamma Theingi since 2023. Min Aung Hlaing likes to boast that his family always comes first.
Given his track record of scattering titles like confetti, many are now predicting that his children, Aung Pyay Sone and Khin Thiri Thet Mon, will be next in line for the junta chief’s honors.
Bloody path to poll ‘gold’
Junta boss Min Aung Hlaing in a Thingyan message on Thursday repeated his call for everyone to cooperate with elections he plans to hold at the end of the year.
Min Aung Hlaing promised “free and fair elections” in December and said he has offered “to solve ongoing conflicts through political means.”
The regime has come under fire as it is busy preparing for the polls while it should be focusing on relief efforts in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake that claimed more than 3,700 lives and wrecked tens of thousands of homes. Read more
Malaysian PM in ‘frank’ talks with junta boss
BANGKOK—Myanmar’s junta chief held talks with the Malaysian prime minister in Bangkok Thursday in a meeting condemned by critics of the military government.
Myanmar has been engulfed in a brutal multi-sided conflict since 2021, when Min Aung Hlaing’s military wrested power from the civilian government of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing made a rare foreign trip to the Thai capital to meet Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on the sidelines of a Thai-Malaysian bilateral meeting.
The two held a “frank and constructive discussion focused on the urgent humanitarian needs of the Myanmar people… [and] the importance of returning the country to normalcy”, Anwar said in a statement posted on his Facebook page. Read more
Wrecked Naypyitaw ministries relocating to Yangon
Some Myanmar junta ministries are planning to relocate to Yangon as around 80 percent of Naypyitaw’s government buildings and staff apartments were reportedly wrecked by the March 28 earthquake.
The earthquake killed an unknown number of regime staff and damaged the presidential residence, parliament and left several ministries unusable.
The ministries of foreign affairs, hotels and tourism, immigration and population, and commerce and the Central Bank are reportedly relocating. Read more
