Home Affairs Reshuffle Sidelines Top General After Battlefield Setbacks

The Myanmar regime on Thursday replaced Lieutenant General Nyunt Win Swe as home affairs minister with General Ko Ko Oo, chief of the armed forces’ general staff. The move has been interpreted as Ko Ko Oo being “kicked upstairs” after military offensives in Kachin and Rakhine states failed to make headway. Ko Ko Oo recently oversaw several troubled military campaigns. A key offensive aimed at retaking Rakhine State, most of which has been seized by the Arakan Army (AA), has so far been repulsed, while two flotillas on the Irrawaddy River attempting to resupply contested Bhamo in Kachin State lost nearly 20 vessels to resistance attacks. Outgoing Home Affairs Minister Lt-Gen Nyunt Win Swe, who was only appointed in April this year, will return to his previous military duties, the regime said. Nyunt Win Swe and Ko Ko Oo graduated from the Defense Services Academy as members of its 36th and 38th intakes, respectively. Both have been sanctioned by Western countries for human rights violations in the aftermath of the coup. In a clear breach of the 2008 Constitution, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing ordered the ministerial reshuffle directly without submitting it for approval by the military-dominated parliament, which was formed after a widely criticized sham election. According to Section 232(c) of the 2008 Constitution, the president must propose a candidate to the Union Parliament, or Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, for approval. The parliament appoints approved persons as Union ministers under Section 232(f). A member of parliament said he had no knowledge of the appointment. Meanwhile, the regime is facing heavy casualties in northern Myanmar’s Kachin State, where at least 18 regime vessels from resupply flotillas have been destroyed by the Kachin Independence Army and allies this month alone. Nearly 200 regime troops and family members who were on the vessels surrendered. In western Myanmar’s Rakhine State, meanwhile, the regime’s counteroffensive, Operation 4926—named for its start date of September 4—has been repelled by the AA, also resulting in heavy regime casualties. Military analysts noted that while Gen. Ko Ko Oo is assuming a senior government position as home affairs minister, his new assignment actually means losing his much more powerful position in the military. “The chief of the general staff position is the third-highest rank in the military, so it appears Ko Ko Oo is being sidelined within the military,” Naung Yoe, a military defector now with the Myanmar Defense & Security Institute, told The Irrawaddy. The reshuffle may also signify a power struggle within the military. The chief of the general staff is a crucial position, and newly appointed military Commander-in-Chief General Ye Win Oo likely wants to fill it with a close ally, Naung Yoe added. While the regime stated that Lt-Gen Nyunt Win Swe would return to his previous military duties, his former post as head of the Bureau of Special Operations No. 4 (BSO-4) is currently held by Lieutenant General Kyaw Linn Maung. Former army Captain Zin Yaw, who has monitored Myanmar’s conflicts since defecting after the coup, said the move suggests the regime leader intends to appoint Lt-Gen Nyunt Win Swe as chief of the general staff. Whether or not he is given this post will ultimately determine whether the current reshuffle represents a promotion or punishment for Lt-Gen Nyunt Win Swe, Zin Yaw said. Over the five years since the coup, regime leader Min Aung Hlaing has reshuffled the home affairs minister position at will, appointing six different ministers.