Palace coup?
The junta’s information team has dismissed reports of a palace coup in Naypyitaw as mere “fake news”. “The head of state and officials are performing the state’s duties in harmony,” they assured.
Amid mounting criticism of Min Aung Hlaing following months of humiliating military defeats in northern Shan State and Mandalay Region, social media is abuzz with reports that Lieutenant-General Aung Lwin Dwe, the junta’s secretary, has locked up his boss.
While speculation about purges against the coup-maker is nothing new in Myanmar, this time is different. Never before has the regime bothered to respond to the rumors. The junta’s reaction has fueled further speculation about a possible mutiny, given its notorious reputation for concealing the truth. Whatever the reality, one thing is clear: dissatisfaction with Min Aung Hlaing is growing within the Myanmar military.
But even if a countercoup did occur, Myanmar’s people are not optimistic about the outcome, recognizing the new junta boss could well be even more tyrannical than Min Aung Hlaing.
People still remember the two decades of suffering under military dictator Than Shwe, who seized power from his General Saw Maung in 1992, citing his boss’s health issues as a pretext.
Lashing ‘laidback’ Min Aung Hlaing
While junta administrative staff were fleeing four towns in Mandalay and Rakhine this week, Min Aung Hlaing was busy attending a pearl expo and International Youth Day celebrations in Naypyitaw. Regime personnel abandoned their offices in Mandalay’s Myingyan, Taungtha and Natogyi in central Myanmar, as well as in Kyeintali in southern Rakhine, as resistance forces overran junta defenses.
The junta chief’s apparent nonchalance in the face of catastrophe no longer surprises Myanmar people. When the Northeast Command was falling to forces led by the ethnic Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) in northern Shan State’s Lashio earlier this month, Min Aung Hlaing showed his grace under pressure by lecturing his ministers on “the importance of holding traditional performing arts competitions and national sports events.”
Since then, the MNDAA has replaced the junta’s administration with its own in Lashio, the northern Shan capital. And the ethnic Arakan Army has seized yet another town in Rakhine, western Myanmar. Anti-regime groups are also advancing on Mandalay, the country’s second largest city.
Meanwhile, the junta boss remains comfortably holed up in Naypyitaw far from the front lines where his troops are fighting – a decision that has drawn ire from even his staunchest military supporters.
Ultra-nationalist monk U Wirathu has begun mocking Min Aung Hlaing on social media, accusing him of generously gifting northern Shan State to resistance armies.
“May Senior General Min Aung Hlaing attain Nirvana quickly for his donation of northern Shan State,” the monk quipped. He also advised regime soldiers to stop defending towns to avoid disrupting Min Aung Hlaing’s charitable donations of territory.
Regime booted out of Burma’s birthplace
Myanmar’s junta has lost a vital symbol of its feigned legitimacy: the birthplace of the Burmese Empire. Read more
Outages worsen as power runs low
Myanmar’s most populous region, Yangon, will experience even longer and more frequent power cuts after a generating plant in Mandalay Region’s Myingyan Township halted operations. Read more
Rakhine state capital fenced as AA advances
A 5km fence is being erected beside the Kaladan River in the Rakhine State capital as the Arakan Army threatens the city. Read more
Rust gathers on regime’s steel dream
Min Aung Hlaing has been unable to make any progress on one of his pet projects: completing two steel plants suspended by the NLD government he ousted. Read more
