Shwe Mann in sharp exchange over military-run conglomerates

18 January 2016
Shwe Mann in sharp exchange over military-run conglomerates
Speaker of the Lower House Shwe Mann. Photo: Thet Ko/Mizzima

Speaker of the Lower House Shwe Mann warned an opposition lawmaker on Friday not to use words “that damage the dignity of the army” when criticizing military-run businesses in Myanmar.
Speaker Shwe Man interrupted National League of Democracy (NLD) lawmaker Aung Moe Nyo while he was discussing the military’s Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings, Ltd. (UMEHL), an army-owned conglomerate that includes garment factories, copper mines, Myawaddy Bank, and the shipping firm Myanma Five Star Line. Aung Moe Nyo suggested the conglomerate only benefited military officers, not rank-and-file soldiers, according to a report on Radio Free Asia (RFA).
“In my constituency, soldiers are extremely poor because they don’t have enough clothing and food,” Aung Moe Nyo said. “It shouldn’t be that way. If high-ranking officers are excessively rich while ordinary soldiers are deprived ...”
Shwe Mann, a member of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party, interrupted him, saying: “Don’t use words that damage the dignity of the organization [army]. This should be the last warning.”
Aung Moe Nyo continued his comments about the army and the economy, said RFA.