The Spook goes Down

While it’s possible they had information that indicated otherwise (or that paranoia caused them to act), Khin Nyunt didn’t appear to be a threat to either Maung Aye or Than Shwe.

A Burmese expatriate who knew all the major players personally claims that the purge had nothing to do with fear of the spook. Than Shwe and Maung Aye simply held an intense personal dislike of him for years and were looking for the right occasion to get rid of him. 

Khin Nyunt had been untouchable so long as his patron, retired strongman Ne Win, maintained influence from behind the scenes. But when Ne Win’s son-in-law and three grandsons were arrested and convicted of “conspiring to overthrow the state” in 2002, his moral authority evaporated and the spy chief became vulnerable. So why did the SPDC appoint him prime minister last year?

Than Shwe, a poor English-speaker, didn’t like having to attend Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean, meetings. In the wake of the May 30, 2003 Depayin Massacre (in which dozens, perhaps hundreds of supporters of the opposition National League for Democracy were beaten to death by a government-orchestrated mob), he had further reason for staying away. In appointing Khin Nyunt PM, the responsibility for dealing with Asean heads of state, making excuses for Depayin and trying to roll back the US sanctions put in place after the massacre, fell to him. It also meant he had considerably less time free to play spy.

Over the course of 15 months, with the tight US economic sanctions still in place, Khin Nyunt could boast of no successes and looked weak. He had demonstrated himself surplus to requirements. It’s likely that the date for the coup was made on advice from a fortuneteller.

Note that the “retirements” of the cabinet ministers (September 18) and the purging of Khin Nyunt (October 18) took place on dates that are both divisible by the number nine and add up to nine (1+8=9)—doubly auspicious. The leading members of the regime, acutely superstitious, appear to have a penchant for “9” (the late strongman Ne Win was also very fond of 9).