Exactly three years after the coup that blocked an elected government from taking power, Myanmar’s oppressive military junta seems to be falling apart, with pressures mounting on its supremo Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to step down to pave the way for comprehensive national reconciliation and a return to democracy.
On 14th January, at a small gathering in a cantonment town in Myanmar, hard line pro-military Buddhist monk Pauk Kotaw shouted at the top of his voice that Min Aung Hlaing should step down as chairman of the State Administration Council and his deputy Senior General Soe Win take over. The crowd cheered in agreement, as seen in gleaned videos of the event posted on social media.
Online, pro-military journalists and bloggers have launched similar tirades against General Hlaing in the past two weeks as the Burmese military Tatmadaw lost control of nearly 40 towms to ethnic rebel armies.
“He should resign as commander-in-chief,” Ko Maung Maung, a pro-military YouTuber said.
“Such public utterances against Myanmar’s powerful junta leader and the chief of its armed forces would have been unthinkable just a few months ago,” says Myanmar watcher Gautam Mukhopadhyay, India’s most active ambassdor so far but now retired from foreign service.
Burmese military insiders say relative moderate senior officers looking to stop the string of military defeats are pitching for Soe Win to take over. Former Burmese military intelligence chief General Myat Tun Oo and former Home Minister Soe Htut are leading the anti-Hlaing faction which has the backing of most mid-ranking officers who feel Hlaing resorted to the Feb 1, 2021 coup when his presidential ambition was blocked by the victorious National League for Democracy led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi .
“That ill-conceived coup set off a chain reaction that has destroyed the country and will now end up........