The disaster for republicanism and human rights in Burma

Purge of Rohingya Lifts Popular Support for Myanmar’s Top General

This is one of those long and information rich stories the Times is famous for.

It's some three or four times longer than this quoted piece, and all of it worth reading.

The most powerful person in Myanmar now, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, was little known outside the country’s military circles until the villages started burning.

Within just a few weeks in 2009, his forces drove tens of thousands of people out of two ethnic enclaves in eastern Myanmar — first the Shan, near the Thai border, then the Kokang, closer to China. Locals accused his soldiers of murder, rape and systematic arson.

Two years later, the general, who is scheduled to meet with Pope Francis this week, was promoted to commander-in-chief of the armed forces, in a country where the Constitution keeps the military in power despite the veneer of democratic elections.

The techniques that his forces used in 2009 have all been on display this year as the military has driven more than 620,000 Rohingya Muslims out of Myanmar in a campaign the United States has declared to be ethnic cleansing.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate who is the country’s de facto leader, has been harshly criticized for allowing the Rohingya’s expulsion. 

But under the Constitution, which was written by the military, she has no authority over the armed forces.

That is solely the province of General Min Aung Hlaing, 61.

His campaign against the Rohingya has further cemented his status, creating an air of crisis that has galvanized support both within the ranks and the country’s Buddhist majority.

“They are pinching themselves,” David Scott Mathieson, an analyst in Yangon, said about the military leadership. 

“They hit the jackpot. They are six years into the democracy era, and they are more popular than in decades.”

General Min Aung Hlaing has effectively sidelined Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, whose electoral landslide in 2015 blocked a potential path for him to become president of Myanmar, also known as Burma. 

She is barred in the Constitution from becoming president and heads the government under the title she created, “state counselor.”

She and the general rarely meet or speak to each other. 

And as his military offensive continues, it is deeply undermining Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s international standing.

“Aung San Suu Kyi and her government are a human shield for the military against international and domestic criticism,” said Mark Farmaner, director of the London-based Burma Campaign U.K.

General Min Aung Hlaing’s power includes appointing three key cabinet members, overseeing the police and border guards, and presiding over two large business conglomerates. 

He fills a quarter of Parliament’s seats, enough to block any constitutional amendment that would limit his authority.