Myanmar’s ruling party chairman Thura Shwe Mann deported

Thura Shwe Mann faces removal from his role as the head of the Union Solidarity and Development Party, the political wing of the ruling military establishment, and as the speaker of the lower house of Parliament. The move that has been described as a “coup” by one of Mann’s aides came as the nation prepared for its presidential election in November.

The headquarters of the USDP at Naypyidaw was surrounded by Burmese security forces, with officials prohibited from leaving the building. The party issued a formal statement confirming the removal of Thura Shwe Mann from the post of chairman as a necessary step for more effective execution of the party’s tasks. U Htay Oo, the deputy chairman of the party, has taken over the role. According to local news media, the general secretary of the party, U Maung Maung Thein, has also been deported.

According to the New York Times, the party did not give a detailed explanation on its decision to remove several senior figures of the regime from their posts, but it is being seen as a power struggle on a basic level. In recent weeks, the local media have observed a split in the relationship between Shwe Mann and President Thein Sein. While Shwe Mann was being regarded as a leading candidate for the coming presidential elections, President Thein Sein was not running in the elections despite having high chances of being re-selected as the President. Shwe Mann’s willingness to become the next president might have induced Thein Sein to sideline him.

Sources also suggested that Shwe Mann’s informal alliance with Opposition leader and Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi did not go down well with the conservative forces in the military as well.

“Police entered the party compound last night. Since then no one was allowed in or out,” Toe Naing Mann, son of Shwe Mann, told Agence France-Presse. “So-called guards” were also outside his father’s residence in the capital, Naypyidaw, he said.

Contact the writer at feedback@ibtimes.com.au, or let us know what you think below.