Bangladesh, Election Preparations Top Meeting Agenda in Naypyidaw

By WAI MOE

Tensions between Burma and Bangladesh and preparations for the general election planned for 2010 topped the agenda of the latest meeting of Burma’s ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), according to Burmese military analysts.

Reshuffling of military posts was also discussed, Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese military analyst based on the Sino-Burma border, told The Irrawaddy on Monday.

“Lt-Gen Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo might quit as quartermaster-general in the Tatmadaw, [the Burmese armed forces] but he will still hold his post as Secretary 1 of the junta,” he said.

SPDC meetings are held every four months. The latest was one month behind schedule, analysts say.

Win Min, a Burmese researcher on civil-military relations, based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, also confirmed that personnel changes were likely in the run-up to the 2010 election.

Some regional military commanders could become cabinet ministers to replace those who would be standing for election, he said.

Htay Aung, a researcher on military affairs with the Network for Democracy and Development. based on the Thai-Burmese border, said the SPDC meeting also discussed the global financial crisis.

On the subject of the dispute between Burma and Bangladesh over territorial claims in the Bay of Bengal, Htay Aung said the regime’s No 2, Vice Snr-Gen Maun Aye, had failed to mend the breach during the visit he made to Bangadesh in early October.

Meanwhile, junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe appeared with top generals and regional commanders at the coordination meeting (1/2008) of the Special Projects Implementation Committee, according to state-run TV reports.

Apart from Than Shwe, members of the committee are Maung Aye, junta No 3 Gen Shwe Mann, Prime Minister Thein Sein, Secretary 1 Lt-Gen Tin Aung Myint Oo, commanders-in-chief of Burma’s navy and air forces, army commanders, ministers and departmental heads.

Military sources said after the meeting that some regional commanders had been promoted. “Brig-Gen Kyaw Swe, commander of the Southwest Command of the Tatmadaw has been appointed Major General,” a source said.