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Than Shwe retires... from front pages
Irrawaddy - November 24, 2011
Both Myanma Alin and The Mirror reported on Thursday that "Snr-Gen Than Shwe (retired) and Daw Kyaing Kyaing's family donated US $1,300, 11 rubies, a pearl and a golden ring with 61 diamonds, which is valued at kyat 488,000, toward the Scared Buddha Tooth Relic from China, which is now being exhibited in Rangoon."
The fact that Than Shwe's name was preceded with the honorific mention, "retired," raised many eyebrows in Rangoon. Burma watchers also noted that Myanma Alin ran the story on page eight, that Than Shwe was simply listed alongside several other donors and that his name did not appear in the headline.
For years Burmese state-run media has reflected the hierarchy of the military junta in its front pages with lead stories invariably carrying all but the most mundane actions of the ruling generals. While head of the junta, Than Shwe and his family enjoyed privileged status on the front pages of almost every state-run journal and newspaper on a near-daily basis.
On Friday, Than Shwe reportedly made a rare trip outside of his home to visit a Buddhist pagoda in Naypyidaw. According to several official sources and relatives, Than Shwe now mostly lives quietly in the remote capital of Naypyidaw, although sometimes he travels to Rangoon to visit his children.
However, as Larry Jagan – a freelance journalist and former BBC news and current affairs editor for Asia and the Pacific – pointed out in an interview broadcast by Australia's ABC Radio National, a regulation passed by Than Shwe's junta just before the November 2010 election states that any senior military officer may return to his original military post within 5 years of retiring.
"[President] Thein Sein is constantly being told by the hardliners in the ministry, 'Don't do things too far, too fast, otherwise the old man [Than Shwe] will come back and take power,'" said Jagan.
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