Myanmar junta chief meets Suu Kyi party stalwart

Experts say the move is aimed at sidelining the NLD chief

Myanmar’s junta chief sat down with a prominent senior figure of Aung San Suu Kyi’s ousted party on Sunday, the first significant meeting since the February coup.

The military deposed Ms. Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party from power, pushing many of her closest political allies into hiding while others have been arrested.

The junta has alleged electoral fraud in last year’s poll as a justification for the putsch, but much of the country is in open revolt calling for a return to democracy.

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Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing on Sunday met with longtime politician and NLD stalwart Tin Oo, who has in recent years receded from the political landscape due to old age and poor health.

“Min Aung Hlaing told U Tin Oo that health treatment could be provided if necessary, and his army hospital will help,” the junta’s information team announced.

The junta chief also met with Khin Nyunt, former spy chief-turned-Prime Minister before he was arrested under the former junta.

“Min Aung Hlaing also went to meet U Khin Nyunt… and asked about his health condition.”

While some in the West saw him as a potential reformer, Khin Nyunt’s reign as spy chief saw activists harassed, arrested and tortured en masse.

Khin Nyunt’s intelligence apparatus — which once infiltrated every neighbourhood across Myanmar — was purged after his ouster, while Tin Oo no longer plays an active role in NLD party affairs, said Richard Horsey, International Crisis Group’s Myanmar senior advisor.

“It seems unlikely this meeting was sanctioned by the NLD,” Mr. Horsey said.

“Given that Min Aung Hlaing seems determined to sideline Aung San Suu Kyi and won’t meet with her, perhaps he’s looking for other meetings that will be politically cost-free.”

A former NLD MP — who is now part of a group of ousted lawmakers working underground to undermine the junta — criticised the meeting Sunday.

Doubting intentions

“The intention of this meeting is dishonest. Min Aung Hlaing wants to take political advantage out of this meeting,” said Htun Myint, who is currently on the run.

Sunday’s meeting came on the eve of a junta court verdict on Ms. Suu Kyi’s charges of incitement and breaching coronavirus restrictions.

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