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Burmese forces surround ruling party headquarters and confine MPs – report Burmese forces surround ruling party headquarters and confine MPs – report
(about 1 hour later)
Related: Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi confirms her party will contest November electionsRelated: Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi confirms her party will contest November elections
Burmese security forces have surrounded the headquarters of the country’s ruling Union Solidarity and Development party in the capital, Naypyitaw, and prevented party members from leaving, party sources in the building said on Thursday. Burmese security forces have reportedly surrounded the headquarters of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development party in the country’s capital, Naypyidaw, while senior regime figures have been removed from their posts, as tensions mount ahead of elections in November.
“Police entered the party compound last night. Since then no one was allowed in or out,” Toe Naing Mann, the son of parliament speaker and Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) leader Shwe Mann, told Agence France-Presse on Thursday morning. Sources within the headquarters of the USDP – which is effectively a political extension of the military – said on Thursday that Shwe Mann, party chairman and speaker of the parliament, had been removed from his post and was under police guard. His closeness to opposition leader and democracy figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi is believed to have soured his relationship with military leaders, concerned about the speed of reforms in the country.
Several trucks of soldiers and police officers arrived at the compound at around 10pm on Wednesday, sources said. “We have not been allowed to move around since late yesterday,” said one party member. “Police entered the party compound last night. Since then no one was allowed in or out,” Toe Naing Mann, Shwe Mann’s son, told Agence France-Presse on Thursday morning. “So-called guards” were also outside his father’s residence in the capital, he said.
The secretary general of Myanmar’s ruling Union Solidarity and Development party (USDP) said on Thursday that senior party members had ousted him from his position. “They called me and told me that I don’t need to come to the office any more,” Maung Maung Thein told the Reuters news agency by telephone. Several trucks of soldiers and police officers arrived at the compound at around 10pm on Wednesday evening, sources said. “We have not been allowed to move around since late yesterday,” said one party member.
The USDP general secretary, Maung Maung Thein, has also reportedly been forced from his post. “They called me and told me I don’t need to come to the office anymore,” he told Reuters.
#BREAKING: #Myanmar ruling party Secretary General Maung Maung Thein says has been removed from his position, @Reuters reports#BREAKING: #Myanmar ruling party Secretary General Maung Maung Thein says has been removed from his position, @Reuters reports
Maung Maung Thein said he had been at home and not at the USDP headquarters late on Wednesday when security forces arrived. The moves comes amid a tussle for control of the USDP. Tension has reportedly risen between leaders of the military-backed government over the selection of candidates to run in the 8 November general elections.
Toe Naing Mann, the speaker’s son, said “so-called guards” were also at his father’s residence in the capital. The elections – which had been touted as potentially the most free in decades – are set to be contested by Aung San Suu Kyi, who was a thorn in the side of the previous junta regime with her years of campaigns for democracy.
The moves comes amid an ongoing tussle for control of the USDP. Tension has reportedly risen between leaders of the military-backed government over the selection of candidates to run in the 8 November general elections. Toe Naing Mann, who said he was monitoring the situation through contacts from Yangon, said it was not clear what was behind the move by security personnel late on Wednesday. “It is strange that armed forces have restricted a political party in this way,” he told Agence France-Presse.
The elections – which had been touted as potentially the most free in decades – are set to be contested by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was a thorn in the side of the previous junta regime with her years of campaigns for democracy. Recent months have seen growing talk of animosity between Shwe Mann and President Thein Sein, both former generals who shed their uniforms to take part in controversial 2010 polls that heralded a new quasi-civilian government, which has ushered in sweeping reforms.
Aung San Suu Kyi has called repeatedly for the military to withdraw from politics. Her National League for Democracy (NLD) will be the ruling party’s main challenger in the election. The USDP has been the vehicle for the former junta elites to metamorphose from soldiers to MPs.
Toe Naing Mann, who said he was monitoring the situation through contacts from Yangon, said it was not clear what was behind the move by security personnel late on Wednesday. “It is strange that armed forces have restricted a political party in this way,” he told AFP. But there is tension within the USDP over the speed of democratic reforms and the loosening of the military’s grip on power, which it has held for more than half a century.
Recent months have seen growing talk of animosity between Shwe Mann and President Thein Sein, both former generals who shed their uniforms to take part in controversial 2010 polls that heralded a new quasi-civilian government which has ushered in sweeping reforms. Shwe Mann has publicly welcomed the idea of working closely with Aung San Suu Kyi and has set himself up in opposition to the still powerful army on key issues – including on constitutional reform debates that have centred on reducing the military’s political power.
The USDP has been the vehicle for the former junta elites to metamorphose from soldiers to MPs. On Wednesday senior USDP member Aung Ko told AFP that the party had received “more than a hundred” applications from recently retired military officers and cabinet ministers looking to stand in the elections for the party. Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi – the daughter of Burma’s independence hero General Aung San, and the country’s democratic icon for a generation – led her party, the National League for Democracy, to victory in Burma’s election in 1990, but the party was never allowed to take power.
The military, which ruled Myanmar for 49 years and maintains an effective veto over the political system, has resisted recent efforts to introduce constitutional amendments to loosen its grip. Aung San Suu Kyi spent 15 of the next 21 years under house arrest. She was banned from standing in Burma’s first elections in a generation, held in 2010, and the NLD boycotted the poll.
The constitution reserves 25% of seats in parliament for unelected military officers. Making changes to the constitution requires the support of at least 75% of lawmakers, giving the military an effective veto. A proposed amendment that would have seen the threshold of support lowered to 70% failed, as expected, in a June vote. She was still under house arrest at the time of the election – she was released a week later – and has since been elected to parliament in a byelection.
Shwe Mann has publicly welcomed the idea of working closely with Aung San Suu Kyi and has set himself up in opposition to the still powerful army on key issues – including the constitutional reform debates that have centred on reducing the military’s political power. Her participation in this year’s election is being seen, both inside Burma and out, as a major step forward in the country’s democratic reforms. She has vowed that if her party, the NLD, wins in November’s elections it will amend the constitution to weaken the military’s hold on parliament.
But military figures will remain significant political players. On Wednesday senior USDP member Aung Ko told AFP there had been “more than a hundred” applications from recently retired military officers and cabinet ministers looking to stand in the elections for the party.
Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report