FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

USDP hardliner dies in Singapore

USDP hardliner dies in Singapore

Aung Thaung, a hardliner in Myanmar's ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party, has passed away in Singapore.

The powerful MP, who was born in Kyaukkar village, Taungtha Township, Magway Region, was listed as 75, although his family’s announcement said he was 79.

He graduated from Mandalay University in 1962 and served as a high-school teacher. He joined the army in 1964 after attending the Mawbe academy and rose to regional chairman of the dictatorial State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) for Magway in 1993.

He served as the deputy trade minister from 1993 and became minister for livestock and fisheries in 1996 after retiring as a colonel. After the SLORC changed its name to the State Peace and Development Council in 1997, he became a minister for industry until 2010.

Aung Thaung also ran the USDP in Kachin State and Mandalay Region.

The international media and WikiLeaks say he was one of the most corrupt top-ranking members of the former junta having close ties to former senior general Than Shwe.

There was also widespread speculation that he had controlled the country's industrial sector for his 14 years at the ministry.   

Aung Thaung had four children: Commodore Moe Aung, Nay Aung, Pyi Aung (retired lieutenant colonel) and Khin Ngu Ye Phyo. Reports say his two sons Nay Aung and Pyi Aung (married to Nanda Aye, the daughter of former ruling general Maung Aye) are millionaire crony tycoons.

His family has numerous business interests in the country, including the Aung Yee Phyo Company and IGE Group of Companies, dealing in timber, oil, gas and mining. The IGE was engaged in building the capital, Nay Pyi Taw.

The IGE has two subsidiary companies, namely UNOG Pte Ltd dealing in oil, gas and mining, and MRT Co Ltd, a timber trader.

The group also controls the Amara hotels and the United Amara Bank, established in 2010 and owned by Nay Aung.

Unconfirmed reports say Aung Thaung hated the National League for Democracy and its leader Aung San Suu Kyi. He was often viewed as a hardliner in the government.

He was often cited by the international community as one of the key architects of the Depayin massacre in 2003 in Sagaing Region, when at least 70 people associated with the National League for Democracy were killed by a government-sponsored mob. Suu Kyi narrowly escaped death.

Aung Thaung seemed to have adopted a softer approach last year and said he hoped a coalition government would rule Myanmar after 2015.

But the former colonel and his sons were still on the European Union's sanctions list and the US government blacklisted him in 2014 for allegedly undermining economic and political reforms.

He also served as the chairman of the Parliament’s Banks and Financial Development Committee until his death.

Aung Thaung collapsed on July 8 and was admitted to Nay Pyi Taw General Hospital. President Thein Sein, Vice President Nyan Tun, Parliamentary Speaker Thura Shwe Mann and other leaders at the hospital visited him. He was later transported to Singapore by a chartered plane for further treatment, as he did not regain consciousness.

The news of his ill health sparked comments and cartoons on Facebook which were widely circulated, raising questions about the standards of health care in Myanmar. 

RELATED
nationthailand