Myanmar’s parallel National Unity Government (NUG) sale of the Yangon mansion of junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has been embraced by the Myanmar people, who bought shares worth US$2 million in the first three days of the residence going on sale.
Late last month, in an unprecedented move, the NUG’s Ministry of Planning and Finance announced that it would reclaim houses and other properties acquired by junta leaders, including Min Aung Hlaing, and sell shares in them to raise money for the ongoing revolution against the military regime.
The NUG launched the scheme last Thursday, with the initial property on offer being coup leader Min Aung Hlaing’s Yangon mansion, worth an estimated US$30 million, in the Inya Lake neighborhood of Yangon, the commercial capital’s most affluent area. The house at 14 Inya Road sits on a 1.86 acre (0.75 hectare) plot and the NUG’s ministry is offering it for US$10 million, one-third of the market value.
Tin Tun Naing, the NUG’s Minister of Planning and Finance, said several share purchases were quickly made after the property went on sale, with one individual buying shares worth US$100,000.
On Sunday, the minister said the NUG has raised US$2 million from the sale of the house in just 72 hours.
“With demand soaring by the hour, it won’t take long to reach the target of US$10 million,” said Tin Tun Naing.
The residence, known as 14 Inya, used to be a military guesthouse, commonly referred to as the ‘military intelligence guesthouse’, where the generals received foreign diplomats and ethnic armed organization leaders.
In the 1990s, former military spy chief Khin Nyunt liked to celebrate the Thingyan Water Festival at the guesthouse, along with other senior members of the then junta and artists and musicians.
Min Aung Hlaing took over 14 Inya after 2011, when he became the military’s commander in chief.
In February, the NUG established a policy to review the property and land owned or controlled by regime leaders and the defense and home affairs ministries, and to get them back for the benefit of the Myanmar people.
The NUG has also called on the public to report all property seizures by the junta to its Ministry of Home Affairs.
Since the coup, the junta has seized over 547 houses and other properties belonging to anti-regime activists, journalists and those with alleged connections to the NUG, its parliamentary committee and armed wing, the People’s Defense Forces.
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