Irrawaddy-Dec 15
Myanmar regime chief Min Aung Hlaing transferred more than a dozen Myanmar military officers to key Union-level agencies and ministries in November, resurrecting his predecessors attempts to militarize the civil service. Military officers have been transferred to the Union Civil Service Board (UCSB), a body responsible for the recruitment and promotion of civil servants, the Union Election Commission (UEC), and the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations. Since last year’s coup, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing has installed his supporters as heads of ministries and Union-level agencies, and continues to transfer military personnel to different parts of the government. Half of the 30 ministries represented in the military regime’s cabinet are now overseen by military officers. Just as coups by the military are an old story in Myanmar, so is the transfer of army personnel to important positions in the country’s administrative mechanism. The policy was first introduced by the late dictator General Ne Win following his 1962 putsch. He set out to embed the military in every sector of the government, from low-ranking ministerial bureaucrats all the way up to the presidency, and it was regarded as one of the worst aspects of his decades-long rule. Known as the ‘parachute policy’ in Myanmar for the way in which high-ranking military officers are dropped in to preside over ministries and agencies, it results in professional and competent administrators having to work under active or retired military personnel who have little or no knowledge of their respective areas of responsibility. Observers believe that the assiduous implementation of the policy over the years is one of the reasons why Myanmar is always one of Southeast Asia’s poorest countries when under military rule. Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-regime-still-parachuting-army-officers-into-senior-govt-roles.html
