Earlier in the year I wrote a column drawing attention to the vibrant Facebook presence of Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. His PR team have clearly decided there is no point in avoiding Myanmar’s social media platform of choice.
The general has now clocked up almost 400,000 followers. It is a big number: bigger than the best-guess estimates of the Tatmadaw’s uniformed personnel, which is currently somewhere between 300,000 to 350,000.
On Facebook, his posts in Myanmar and English often receive dozens of comments and thousands of “likes”.
Since the election Senior General Min Aung Hlaing’s statements have sought to position the Tatmadaw as the country’s primary security, rather than political, institution. This is an astute manoeuvre at a time when the Myanmar people are not going to accept the re-militarisation of their politics.
Given what happened the last time the National League for Democracy won an election, many are wary of the generals’ ambitions. Trust remains in deficit. Yet on current indications there is an appetite, among the highest ranks, for further diminishing the military’s political role. It is happening step by step, and not without some hesitation, which is why some people assert that little has changed and that the army is still in-charge. (Courtesy of mmtimes.com)
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