MYANMAR-POLITICS/MORNING Most Naypyitaw residents keep mum on news of Myanmar's ruling party power struggle

Record ID: 143927

  • Title: MYANMAR-POLITICS/MORNING Most Naypyitaw residents keep mum on news of Myanmar's ruling party power struggle
  • Date: 14th August 2015
  • Summary: NAYPYITAW, MYANMAR, (AUGUST 14, 2015) (REUTERS) PEOPLE STANDING AT NEWSPAPER KIOSK NEWSPAPER SELLER PREPARING VARIOUS OF PEOPLE SITTING, LOOKING THROUGH NEWSPAPERS MAN READING NEWSPAPERS NEWSPAPERS HEADLINE READING (Burmese): 'Shwe Mann removed as chairman of USDP party / New leader change / Shwe Mann is still candidate of USDP' VARIOUS OF PEOPLE READING NEWSPAPERS AROUND
  • Embargoed: 29th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Myanmar
  • Country: Myanmar
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAH6TR6OJFW38CEHHFSSBLL5N1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Most of the residents living in Naypyitaw on Friday (August 14) refrained from commenting on the news of the abrupt change of Myanmar's ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party chief position.
    Myanmar's powerful ruling party chief Shwe Mann has been ousted from his post, party members said on Thursday (August 13), apparently after losing a power struggle with President Thein Sein three months before a general election.
    The feud between the two old rivals became public in a dramatic way late on Wednesday (August 12) evening, when security forces surrounded the vast headquarters of the ruling USDP in the capital, Naypyitaw.
    But a Naypyitaw resident said that the news was not much of a surprise for him.
    "It seems there is fighting against each other inside the party. It is also happening inside the NLD (National League for Democracy Party). NLD and them (Union Solidarity and Development Party) are having the same problem," said Hla Yee, who is a retired government official.
    "I think this is nothing special for me because they didn't do anything good for the country since before. I think there are lots of negativity," he added.
    The United States expressed concern about the apparent use of security forces to help resolve the dispute.
    Shwe Mann's ouster from the party follows rare discord within the establishment over the role of the military, which handed power to a semi-civilian government in 2011 but retains an effective veto over changes to the political system.
    Shwe Mann had built ties with Nobel laureate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has called repeatedly for the military to withdraw from politics. He angered the military by supporting an attempt in parliament in June to amend the constitution to limit the military's political role.
    It is unclear what the changes mean for reforms in Myanmar, but the heavy-handed involvement of the security forces smacks of the junta-era approach to political disputes.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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