Why did the aging despot General Than Shwe meet with Aung San Suu Kyi?

By Dr Maung Zarni
December 5, 2015

Senior General Than Shwe: Nga Ma Auo Thae Buu

The prevailing view is that the Old Man wants to ensure that in his final phase of life he is safe from any form of retribution, that his extended family of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren are safe and that their ill-gotten gains - estimated at $ billions - remain intact.

I am sure these are elements in Than Shwe's equation. But there is more to his move - that he met the woman whom he set out to destroy in his official stay in power - that is, almost 20 years.

Here is what I would SPECULATE:

1) Than Shwe is the Master Strategist, the scriptwriter and the director of the play "Discipline Flourishing Democracy".

2) As such, he knows his chess pieces/characters very well. he hand-picked a perfect man - Thein Sein, un assuming, non-threatening A Class Liar for the President post, stacked all key positions with the most subservient and loyal generals whom he had groomed and gave jump promotions (for instance, Min Aung Hlain) and sidelined or bypassed the ambitious cameleon with rotten name - Thura Shwe Mann.

3) He has a perfect sense of timing: remember US Senator Jim Webb and Yattaw thingy? - when Obama was about to create the first major China Containment move (Asian Pivot or Rebalancing)?

4) He doesn't need assurances or security guarantees from Aung San Suu Kyi or any future elected government as long as his loyalists control the entire Security Sector; their personal control - and the military's institutional interets are guaranteed, constitutionally. (Courtesy of Rohingyablogger)

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