• Burmese
Friday, June 20, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
28 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

Myanmar Junta Adviser Calls for Better Civil-Military Relations

The Irrawaddy by The Irrawaddy
September 8, 2022
in Burma, Factiva, News
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0 0
A A
Myanmar Junta Adviser Calls for Better Civil-Military Relations

Dr. Zaw Oo at the public forum ‘Myanmar’s Coup and Civil War After 19 Months: Political Dynamics

5.9k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

While the Myanmar military regime is torching villages, committing extrajudicial killings and launching indiscriminate attacks on civilians, junta adviser Dr. Zaw Oo says there is a need for “good civil-military relations” and urged anyone involved in Myanmar issues to take his call  seriously.

“So far no one has put it on the table. Only when it’s taken seriously into consideration, I think, can the crisis we are in be solved,” he told Radio Free Asia (RFA)’s Burmese Service on Tuesday in an interview on the sidelines of a public forum about the Myanmar coup and its aftermath at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. He was among five speakers at the forum.

Dr. Zaw Oo is a member of the advisory board formed by the regime on July 13 to reform the Myanmar Development Institute (MDI)—an economic research think tank formed by the ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) government in 2017 to support economic reforms in the country. Its director was Sean Turnell, an Australian economist who was arrested and charged by the regime after last year’s coup. The junta abolished the institute on Feb. 22, 2021.

RelatedPosts

Thailand’s ‘Yellow Shirts’ Return to Streets to Demand PM Quit

Thailand’s ‘Yellow Shirts’ Return to Streets to Demand PM Quit

June 19, 2025
448
Thai PM Faces Growing Calls to Quit in Cambodia Phone Row

Thai PM Faces Growing Calls to Quit in Cambodia Phone Row

June 19, 2025
626
ADB Announces Record $100m Quake Aid Package for Myanmar

ADB Announces Record $100m Quake Aid Package for Myanmar

June 18, 2025
675

He is the executive director of the Center for Economic and Social Development (CESD), an independent think-tank working on inclusive development in Myanmar. From 2012-2016 he was a presidential economic adviser for the military proxy Thein Sein government, serving as a principal adviser on finance, industry, commerce and labor issues. He is also the managing director at Bower Group Asia Myanmar Co. Ltd, which is under Bower Group Asia, a strategic advisory firm that specializes in the Asia-Pacific.

‘Just military-military relations’

The one-time presidential adviser also praised his former boss, ex-general Thein Sein, for maintaining good civil-military relations as the head of a so-called civilian government that took office in 2011 via a sham election. The Thein Sein administration was succeeded by the NLD government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in 2016 after the party won a landslide election. The military staged a coup against the NLD government in February last year.

“President U Thein Sein managed civil-military relations well during his tenure. If that kind of management had survived, I believe the management of politics and the economy would be better than now,” he said during the interview, referring to the economic and political turmoil Myanmar has experienced since the military coup last year.

Dr. Zaw Oo said staging a coup in the 21st century is out of date, but added that having good civil-military relations was very important and “anyone working on Myanmar issues should take it seriously,” pointing to neighboring Thailand, which has also seen military rule in recent years, as an example to follow.

“Their civil-military relations are properly managed without the challenges we are facing in our country. Their economy is not in trouble and moving forward,” he said.

But a local political analyst rejected Dr. Zaw Oo’s claim that the country experienced good civil-military relations during Thein Sein’s tenure, saying the administration at the time consisted of a bunch of ex-military officials who had simply swapped their uniforms for suits.

“It was merely a relationship between former soldiers and serving soldiers. It wasn’t a question of good relations,” he said on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.

“He sounds as if he’s blaming the NLD government for not having good relations with the military, while praising U Thein Sein. Then, he envies Thailand. He is encouraging military rule in the country,” he said

The political analyst said Dr. Zaw Oo was covering up for the regime by promoting good civil-military relations while ignoring the root cause of Myanmar’s suffering today: the military coup.

Myanmar has been on the verge of becoming a failed state since the military takeover last year. More than 19 months on after the coup, the country’s economy is now in an unprecedented downward spiral with dwindling foreign reserves. Shortages of imported fuel have become more frequent due to instability in the foreign exchange rate, which keeps hitting record highs on a daily basis, worsening the people’s suffering. At the same time, the regime has committed atrocities like extrajudicial killings, torching whole villages and launching airstrikes against communities in anti-regime armed resistance strongholds.

Dr. Zaw Oo didn’t respond to The Irrawaddy’s request for comment on Thursday.

Switching sides

Prior to his role as a presidential economic adviser, Dr. Zaw Oo was a member of the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF), a student rebel group born out of the 1988 pro-democracy movement.

He was also a policy adviser to the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), the then-government in exile, and director of the Burma Fund, the NCGUB’s think tank. In these roles, he was an outspoken opponent of the regime.

Dr. Zaw Oo later co-founded the Vahu Development Institute (VDI), a Thailand-based think-tank founded in 2006 to engage in policy advocacy on democratization and strengthening civil society in Myanmar.

The other VDI founding members were U Aung Naing Oo, U Aung Thu Nyein and U Tin Maung Than.

Left to right: U Aung Thu Nyein, Dr. Tin Maung Than, Dr. Zaw Oo and U Aung Naing Oo / Vahu Development Institute

U Aung Naing Oo was a member of the ABSDF and later worked for the Thein Sein government on peace negotiations with Myanmar’s ethnic armed groups. To facilitate the negotiations—with the full blessing of Thein Sein—they founded the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC), a government-affiliated, Western-funded NGO where everyone, most of them anti-Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and NLD, had a good time enjoying a cash bonanza brought in by the as-yet-unfinished peace process. He is widely regarded as having cozy relations with the military.

In November last year, he wrote a letter to international embassies claiming that he was among three people on a “hit list” put out by Myanmar’s parallel National Unity Government (NUG) and its armed wing, the People’s Defense Force (PDF). The NUG rejected his claim and the hit-list turned out to be imaginary.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: civil-military relationsCoupDr. Zaw OojuntaMyanmarNLDregimeThailandThein Sein
The Irrawaddy

The Irrawaddy

...

Similar Picks:

Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow
Burma

Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow

by The Irrawaddy
February 12, 2024
44.7k

Ethnic armed grouping says it will continue Operation 1027 offensive until goal of ousting the junta is achieved. 

Read moreDetails
Drone Attack at Myanmar-China Border Gate Causes Over $14m in Losses
Business

Drone Attack at Myanmar-China Border Gate Causes Over $14m in Losses

by The Irrawaddy
November 27, 2023
38.5k

Jin San Jiao is latest northern Shan State trade hub in crosshairs of ethnic Brotherhood Alliance.

Read moreDetails
Arakan Army Captures Myanmar Junta Brigade General in Chin State Rout: Report
Burma

Arakan Army Captures Myanmar Junta Brigade General in Chin State Rout: Report

by The Irrawaddy
January 15, 2024
36.5k

Rakhine-based armed group has reportedly detained the chief of 19th Military Operations Command after seizing his base in Paletwa Township.

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta Arrests Thai Condo Buyers, Realtors as Currency Crashes
Business

Myanmar Junta Arrests Thai Condo Buyers, Realtors as Currency Crashes

by The Irrawaddy
June 4, 2024
27.6k

Monday’s arrests follow reports that Myanmar has become one of Thailand’s most lucrative markets for selling condos since the 2021...

Read moreDetails
China-Backed Illegal Rare Earth Mining Surging in Northern Myanmar
Burma

China-Backed Illegal Rare Earth Mining Surging in Northern Myanmar

by Yan Naing
July 15, 2022
34.7k

A Myanmar military-backed militia in Kachin State is protecting Chinese-run mines that produce coveted rare earth minerals used in hi-tech...

Read moreDetails
AA Urges Myanmar Junta Troops to Surrender as Western Command Burns
War Against the Junta

AA Urges Myanmar Junta Troops to Surrender as Western Command Burns

by The Irrawaddy
December 18, 2024
25.3k

Ethnic army reportedly poised to capture regime’s last stronghold in Rakhine State.

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Resistance Groups Hail Ambushes on Myanmar Junta Boats

Resistance Groups Hail Ambushes on Myanmar Junta Boats

Qatari Telecom Operator Ooredoo Exits Military-Ruled Myanmar

Qatari Telecom Operator Ooredoo Exits Military-Ruled Myanmar

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Myanmar Tourism Sector Mocks Junta’s Russia Tourist Drive

Myanmar Tourism Sector Mocks Junta’s Russia Tourist Drive

1 week ago
1.8k
Untested Commander Takes Charge as Myanmar Military Faces Toughest Challenge in Decades

Untested Commander Takes Charge as Myanmar Military Faces Toughest Challenge in Decades

1 week ago
1.8k

Most Read

  • Myanmar’s Aging Leaders Continue to Suffer in Junta Jails

    Myanmar’s Aging Leaders Continue to Suffer in Junta Jails

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Trade and Traffic from Thai Border Region Dwindle as Checkpoints Multiply

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Mon Groups Vow to Boost Attacks on Myanmar junta

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • The Lady Myanmar’s Generals Can’t Defeat

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Thai PM Faces Growing Calls to Quit in Cambodia Phone Row

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.