The former chief of the military proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP)’s Naypyitaw chapter and ex-minister for agriculture and irrigation under the Thein Sein government was arrested by the military junta on Wednesday.
The reason for Myint Hlaing’s arrest is still unknown. Sources said a military convoy arrived at the former lieutenant general’s home in Naypyitaw at around 2 a.m. and raided it before making the arrest.
As minister, Myint Hlaing gained notoriety for recommending that farmers “skip one meal” to pay back agricultural loans.
Chairman of the USDP until late 2022, he became popular among party supporters after lobbying the regime hard to allow them to bear weapons for self-defense after the junta revised the Arms Act.
His proposal to arm party supporters was rejected by the junta, however.
Some sources said Myint Hlaing’s bid to arm party supporters, and his subsequent surge in popularity, annoyed junta boss Min Aung Hlaing.
An angry Myint Hlaing mocked party supporters by giving them sharpened bamboo sticks at a party event prior to quitting the USDP in 2023.
Under the Than Shwe regime, Myint Hlaing was Northeastern Command chief and personal security officer for Vice Senior General Maung Aye, the regime’s No. 2 man, until early 2011.
