Officials of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) told reporters that Shwe Mann has been ousted from his top party post and the USDP secretary general, Maung Maung Thein, was also removed.
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Aung Shine Oo-AP In this Wednesday, August 12, 2015, photo, Burma’s Parliament speaker Shwe Mann leaves after a press conference at the Union Solidarity and Development Party headquarters in Naypyitaw. “He’s in good health and at home now”.
A USDP source, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information, earlier told AFP he believed the plan was to remove Shwe Mann as party leader and impose “a new party structure”.
The incident comes ahead a general election scheduled for November 8 in Myanmar. It said Htay Oo, an ally of the president, was now party chairman.
The BBC reports that Suu Kyi and Shwe Mann “have often expressed that they have a mutual understanding for future co-operation” and that one area of cooperation might be amending the constitution, which could open the door for Suu Kyi to run for president.
Security measures have intensified near the ruling party’s headquarters since Wednesday evening.
Toe Naing Mann, who is staying abreast of the situation from Yangon via contacts, also said that the specific cause of the standoff remained unclear, adding: “It is odd that armed forces have restricted a political party in this way”.
He has also set himself up in opposition to the still-powerful army on key issues – including in constitutional reform debates that centre on reducing the military’s political power.
“The president has not publicly ruled out running in the election or trying for the presidency for a second term”, said Zaw Htay, a senior official at Thein Sein’s office.
It is unclear why the party selected only 59 of 159 senior officers to be candidates in the election but the decision likely angered officers and politicians keen to preserve the military’s sway.
A nominally civilian government was introduced in Myanmar in 2011, ending almost 50 years of military rule. Aung Min, the president’s chief peace negotiator with ethnic rebel groups, and Soe Thein, a former minister for industry who has been hugely influential in spearheading economic reform, will now both reportedly stand as independent candidates.
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The USDP is expected to fare poorly against Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy in the election. Attempts to change the constitution were thwarted by unelected members of the military who control 25 percent of parliament’s seats.
