Fears grow of military take-over in civil service

The shake-up is reportedly widespread, occurring across the finance, commerce, home affairs, and national planning ministries. 

Some officials have been ordered to resign or transfer without reason, reports said. 

“Some directors-generals, deputy directors-generals and directors have received orders. Some are told to resign while some are asked to transfer. I heard that the state will announce orders soon,” an official said on condition of anonymity. 

“Although we don’t know the reason exactly, we heard that the public had complained about some while others were said to have links with bribery and corruption. But we don’t know yet why some others have been told to resign or transfer. It affects six or seven officials alone at the commerce ministry,” he said. 

More than 50 senior officials will be forced to resign or transfer, unconfirmed reports say. 

Some civil servants said they were worried that military officials will take vacant posts. 

A deputy director-general based in Nay Pyi Taw, who asked not to be named, said, “As Myanmar is in the reform process, we have to work 10 times harder than in the past. The departments dealing with the international community have to work a lot harder. When military officials come to civilian posts, they have to be trained from scratch. For legal departments, it takes a lot of time to teach them. I think outstanding civilian staff should be promoted. Only then will office work be smooth and speedy.” 

Eleven Media Group CEO Than Htut Aung said: “I think the changes the government is conducting this time are not much concerned with how much success is achieved or not. Officials who have performed their duties well have been listed for transfer. But many who are notorious for bribery remain in their current posts. 

“It is tantamount to strengthening centralisation and bureaucracy. Regional governments and ministries have little authority. The central government’s administrative rule is the same as that of the previous military government.

“The future of the country’s education system is now a worry because the government has sent new men to the education ministry. Directors-general from the President’s Office were once transferred to that ministry. Now, the director-general from the Bureau of Special Investigation will reportedly be transferred to the education ministry. These agencies are not related, and this is actually mismanagement. The president has said that everything must be transparent. But there has been no transparency [in this issue], even when they dismissed the minister of communications and information technology. As far as I understand it, the skills and qualifications are not much different at director and director-general levels. Like the previous government, the present one has exercised a policy of centralisation that is slowing the administrative machinery. Now the community of civil servants is overwhelmed by fear as the government is refusing to be transparent over what criteria are used for deciding and conducting these changes,” he said.