If we are strictly following the 2008 constitution, an interim government has to be formed before the elections can take place. And the emergency government in charge now apparently cannot do that, according to the constitution. The latter is tasked with the main aim of trying get the country into stability (which obviously has not happened, hence rounds of six months extensions).
In an ideal situation, with enhanced security, the SAC is supposed to return the power to the National Defence and Security Council (NDSC). NDSC would form an interim government mainly tasked with holding the free and fair elections. You can obviously see the dilemma here, when the Senior General give the power to the NDSC, where the head of NDSC is the President.
Anyhow, we can see the shift in focus of the current regime from just simply playing the role of an emergency administration to focusing on the duties of a full fledged government; the forming of three commissions long overdue, after slight reshuffling of top defence positions within Tatmadaw.
First, one of the only two Navy Seals in Myanmar, Admiral Tin Aung San is no longer the Defence Minister. The writing is already on the wall, probably due to his over achievements on the rebels salients. He is still holding onto the DPM post after getting reassigned as a Minister for the PM office. It also means that two (navy) admirals are now ministers for PM office.
The second major shift happened when Joint Chief of Staff (for Army, Navy and Airforce) Maung Maung Aye was removed from the potential to be the future Senior General to become Tin Aung San’s replacement and take the position of one of the many DPMs. This position as the joint Chief is now occupied by a 53 years old young and upcoming Kyaw Swar Lin, who is currently in the best position to succeed the Senior General.
Trio of Committees
The first of the long overdue committees/commissions to address lack of co-ordination among ministries is the one for industrial development, headed by former #3 man himself, General Mya Tun Oo. Supported by ministers from industry, natural resources, electric power, energy, science and tech, construction, this commission is tasked with bringing Myanmar out of raw exports of agriculture and natural resources into becoming an industrial state.
But there can be no industrial development without sufficient and regular supply of electricity. Hence, the second commission: Electricity and Energy Development. Chaired by Admiral Tin Aung San, and supported by ministers of electric power, energy, investment, agriculture, rural development, natural resources, industry, commerce and science and tech, this ministers abundant commission is supposed to address the most pressing issue of everyone in the whole country. Whether this is just for PR or the top echelon of ministers can really do something to untie this Gordian knot, for the betterment of the country, only time will tell.
Last but not least, the agri and livestock development commission hopes to address consistently low yields in agri and livestock sectors, hoping to rescue the sector that employ 70% of the population, out of the backyard of productivity scores. Chaired by General Nyo Saw, the all powerful economic tsar who control the Tatmadaw economic enterprises. The team includes ministers from agriculture, investment, rural development, natural resources, industry, and commerce, this commission will really test the leadership skills of the General, whether he can really drive the development of these sectors or just a star behind the unpublished financials of MEC (Myanmar Economic Corporate) and MEH (Myanmar Economic Holdings).
In summary, the position of our top leadership has changed from just being here for just a while to planning for the development of country for the long term. How it would translate into specific actions and time horizons is up to anyone’s guess for the time being.
