Media linked to Shwe Mann were gagged on Thursday, adding to concerns about reforms in the country.
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The Nobel laureate joined the US and Britain in expressing concern over the removal of Shwe Mann before the elections, which are the first since democratic reforms began in 2011.
His dismissal was seen as an emphatic move by President Thein Sein to tighten his political grip ahead of the vote.
It is unclear how much support the impeachment bill has in parliament, where Shwe Mann has cultivated a reputation as a statesman since taking up the role of speaker in 2011 when the ruling junta ceded power to a quasi-civilian government.
The 12th regular session of Myanmar’s House of Representatives (the lower house), which was adjourned since July 24 due to flooding, resumed in Nay Pyi Taw on Tuesday.
Speaking at the country’s parliament as it reopened for its final session before November’s landmark national elections, she said that her National League for Democracy (NLD) party “will work with the ally”, although she did not specify how. Members of the USDP made an appeal for unity at the meeting.”The USDP needs to stay strong”, the new chairman of the party, Htay Oo, said in a speech.
Last month, 1,700 members of his constituency in Zayarthiri, located in the heart of the capital, said he violated the law by showing disrespect for the military’s role in parliament. This is believed to be influencing a proposed bill which will enable just one percent of constituents to remove a member of parliament.
However, U Shwe Mann disagreed with the proposal saying that those MPs, who are busy with their undertakings, can take leave and the session will go on speedily to complete discussions on some remaining bills and then the session can be stopped.
“Shwe Mann always represents us when we are ignored by the president”.
The USDP also sidelined two of the president’s closest allies by leaving them off the candidate list.
“We have a plan to protect and cover him”, said a lower house USDP member of parliament and supporter of Shwe Mann.
They were Soe Thein, a powerful minister of the president’s office, and Aung Min, who was picked by Thein Sein to lead the government’s efforts to forge a peace agreement with the country’s armed ethnic groups.
Shwe Mann’s fall from grace bears echoes of the political purges under the junta, leading some to doubt Shwe Mann has a future in public life.
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“So my best advice for him is resign from the speaker’s position if you want to prevent further perils for you and your family”.
