Myanmar’s military regime reshuffled key government positions on the fourth anniversary of its coup, purportedly to accelerate urgent policy objectives including planned elections. Three ministers were purged.
In key posts, Home Affairs Minister Lieutenant General Yar Pyae and Border Affairs Minister Lt-Gen Tun Tun Naung switched jobs.
Yar Pyae had been home minister since a reshuffle in August 2023. He previously had close ties with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and some executive members of her National League for Democracy (NLD), whose government the military ousted in 2021.
Tun Tun Naung, who takes his place, is the son of a non-commissioned officer but was himself part of the 25th intake of the elite Defense Services Academy. A career soldier, he served as commander of the 88th Light Infantry Division, Northern Command, Yangon Command, and the Bureau of Special Operations No. 1. After the putsch he became border affairs minister.
In the post of deputy military intelligence chief and deputy home affairs minister, Major General Toe Yi was replaced by Maj-Gen Aung Kyaw Kyaw and demoted to a seat on the anti-graft commission.
Part of the 32nd intake of the DSA, Aung Kyaw Kyaw has served since the coup as chief of the Bureau of Special Operations and military intelligence office for Lower Myanmar.
The office of the military intelligence unit—officially the Office of the Chief of Military Security Affairs—is based in Yangon and responsible for suppressing anti-regime groups in the region.
The regime also announced that Hotels and Tourism Minister Thet Thet Khine, Labor Minister Myint Naung, and Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Min Thein Zan were “allowed to retire,” a euphemism for fired.
Thet Thet Khine, who is also the chairwoman of the People’s Pioneer Party, was previously an NLD lawmaker. There is speculation that she either fell out of favor with junta boss Min Aung Hlaing or is being freed up for some role in helping legitimize the elections the regime plans to hold this year.
She was replaced by former Ambassador to Vietnam Kyaw Soe Win, a graduate of the ninth intake of the DSA who previously served as a division commander.
Myint Naung was replaced by former Ambassador to Thailand Chit Swe, and Min Thein Zan by Jeng Phang Naw Taung.
The reshuffle also saw Yangon Command chief Maj-Gen Zaw Hein appointed quartermaster general. Coastal Region Command chief Maj-Gen Pyae Sone Linn replaces him in his old job.
Zaw Hein is the son of retired Brig-Gen Thein Aung, who served as chief of Ayeyarwady Region and forestry minister under Thein Sein’s quasi-civilian administration
A former personal staff officer of Min Aung Hlaing, Zaw Hein is a member of the junta boss’s small inner circle. He graduated from the DSA’s 38th intake and became Naypyitaw Command chief following the coup. He also has ties to the youngest junta crony, Zaw Win Shein, the chairman of Ayeyar Hinthar Holdings.
Pyae Sone Linn, the new Yangon Command chief, was part of the DSA’s 40th intake and became chief of the Bureau of Special Operations 6 based in Naypyitaw in 2022 before taking over the Coastal Region Command.
Most of the generals who were promoted were commanders of military regions that have seen fewer clashes since the coup, whereas commanders of military regions experiencing intense battles often end up fired or jailed.
