Nay Pyi Taw, 8 October
Military officers have been increasingly transferred to top positions in the different departments in the two and a half years since the military coup, according to political observers and the military community.
The military officers, who are called Mok Kya Shwe Ko by the civil servants, were gradually transferred to senior positions in the ministries since coup.
According to the Myanmar Gazette published in late September, 10 army captains have been transferred to three ministries as chief officers and assistant managers.
They include two chief officers for the Road Transport Administration Department under the Ministry of Transport and Communications, one assistant manager in the Telecommunication Department, and five assistant managers in the Departments of Trade and Consumer Affairs under the Ministry of Commerce.
In addition, two injured military veterans were assigned to the Department of Social Welfare under the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement as chief officers in August.
“The military council’s transfer of military officers to different departments is intentionally establishing a system dominated by the military,” Air Force CDM Sergeant Zeya told Than Lwin Times.
The military council assigns the colonel as director, the lieutenant colonel as deputy director, the major as assistant director, and the captain as chief officer.
Under the governance system of successive military dictatorships in Myanmar, military officers from the Ministry of Defense were automatically appointed to top positions in civilian departments.
Similarly, military officers controlled civilian ministries under President U Thein Sein’s democratic administration, which was formed in accordance with the 2008 constitution, and transfers from the military to the civilian side decreased during the NLD administration.
“However, after the military coup, more military officers who do not want to fight are more likely to transfer to civilian departments for various reasons than before,” U Than Soe Naing, a political analyst, said.
A colonel and a lieutenant colonel from the Ministry of Defense were appointed as school principal and director under the Ministry of Transport and Communications more than seven months after the military council seized power.
After that, according to the Myanmar Gazette, 40 military officers were transferred to the Myanmar Economic Bank, the Election Commission, the Union Civil Service Board and the Ministry of Commerce in the six months from the beginning of this year to June.
Some civilians were included in the military council led by General Min Aung Hlaing, but it was controlled by generals, and the ministries were filled by generals and retired generals.
News – Than Lwin Times
Photo: MOI
Thanlwintimes