Home > South-East Asia >> Burma |
Talk of a power struggle in Naypyidaw
Irrawaddy - February 22, 2012
Now another scenario is unfolding – this time in the form of a power struggle between the Parliament and the government, though both are dominated by former army generals.
And it is no other than Thura Shwe Mann himself, the former top army general and now the speaker of the Lower House of Parliament, who confirmed the existence of such an internal conflict.
Shwe Mann answered "yes" when he was asked by reporters in Naypyidaw on Monday if there exists any sort of power struggle between the country's parliament and the government.
The question mainly stemmed from a current parliamentary debate over Shwe Mann's proposal on Feb. 7 that the country should increase the salaries of state employees in an effort to tackle corruption and to implement the new government's slogans of "clean government and good governance."
Though his proposal was unanimously approved in Parliament on that day, three government ministers led by Minister of Finance Hla Tun later dismissed it in a parliamentary briefing on the grounds that the move would worsen the country's currency inflation and budget deficit which the government announced stands at more than US $2 billion.
The bicameral Parliament is dominated by former military generals such as Shwe Mann who represent the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), and by military representatives who are appointed into a quarter of the seats.
On Tuesday, Shwe Mann pressed again in the Parliament for the minimum monthly wage for state employees to be increased to no less than 100,000 kyat ($120), pointing at the fact that even a manual construction laborer in Naypyidaw now earns the same salary every month.
Shwe Mann also suggested that to implement his proposal, the government should suspend or cancel state-funded industrial projects including the construction development project for Naypyidaw and other "unnecessary" state projects.
"The parliament is responsible for having to check on state projects that can be costly and less beneficial to the public," Shwe Mann said, urging MPs to be responsible for their legislative duties by ensuring that the executive branch does not waste state funds.
As if to emphasize the point, Shwe Mann, the former third-ranking army general in the previous military regime, called a press briefing in Rangoon on Wednesday morning and proclaimed that he would continue to make unflinching efforts to bring about a salary increase for state employees. He added that those who want to share their views on this issue can bring suggestions to him.
Shwe Mann urged the public "to fearlessly air their views" over his salary increase proposal, saying that the country is moving toward a democratic state. But he denied he was merely campaigning for the April elections, insisting that he was "just working for the welfare for the general public."
At the press conference, Shwe Mann also stated that his important parliamentary speech on Feb. 7 calling for a reduction in state bureaucracy was censored by all organs of the state-media.
Asked by the local press if this means the Executive Branch is infringing on the constitutional rights of the citizens, Shwe Mann cryptically replied that the answer "is easily understandable to our rational and experienced media."
Parliamentary MPs said that Shwe Mann's second effort to push through the proposal – which he read out in a letter to the Speaker of the Union Parliament on Tuesday – essentially meant that the government has no choice but to raise state employees' salaries.
"The deal is done because the constitutional mandate states that the executive branch must implement the proposals occasionally made by the Parliament," said opposition MP Thein Nyunt who pointed out that Parliament is equally important as the government because it has passed important bills such as the amnesty for political prisoners, supporting freedom of assembly and the formation of labor unions.
It was in this context that Shwe Mann admitted a power tussle between the Parliament and the government led by reformer President Thein Sein, explained Khaing Maung Yi, an opposition MP from the National Democratic Force.
Debates in Burma's parliamentary sessions are mostly mundane affairs with a majority of the MPs from the ruling USDP reported to be less than enthusiastic about the political and economic reforms much touted by the nominally civilian government that took office last year.
But could it be that the current debate suggests the emergence of a check-and-balance system between the parliament and the government?
Or is it just merely a manipulated attempt to project that image in the eyes of the Burmese public and the international community because the two structures are no different from each other, both being dominated by former army generals like Thein Sein and Shwe Mann?
Some observers view Shwe Mann's move as having something to do with the coming parliamentary by-elections in which Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) is contesting 48 vacant seats with the USDP running as its main rival.
Last month, Shwe Mann, who is also the vice-chairman of the USDP, told party members at a recent conference that the by-elections are a major test between the USDP and the NLD, and that the USDP must make an all-out effort to beat Aung San Suu Kyi's party.
But opposition MPs in the parliament said that they see no hidden agenda behind the moves of Shwe Mann, because, they said, he is a genuine reformist leader who they can rub shoulders with and share different views.
"I don't think Thura Shwe Mann is playing any sort of PR game to project the image of checks and balances between the parliament and the government," said opposition MP Khaing Maung Yi, a former political prisoner who spent seven years in jail.
Khaing Maung Yi said that while many USDP MPs show no strong desire to push for reforms in the country, and they generally keep aloof in the Parliament from opposition MPs like him. He said that Shwe Mann, on the other hand, makes friends with everyone in the Parliament and is always open to different views.
"There is a sort of tension between Parliament and the government," he said. "But in my view, both President Thein Sein and U Shwe Mann are genuine reformists, even though there are many who may not like them."
See also: