The head of the United Nations’ Development Programme in Burma and the UN’s resident coordinator Charles Petrie left Rangoon on Tuesday after the military regime had refused to renew his visa.

Petrie, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Burma, was summoned last month to Naypyidaw and told he was no longer welcome because he had acted “beyond his capacity.”

The accusation related to a press release issued by the UN Country Team—headed by Petrie—on the 62nd UN Day on October 24, deploring the "deteriorating humanitarian situation" in Burma and suggesting UN agencies could help the country address "poverty and suffering and their underlying causes."

The Burmese junta well understands that humanitarian and development concerns have political implications, even though Petrie’s statement focused on "socio-economic issues." The UN is urging Burma's ruling generals these days to move towards dialogue with the opposition as part of an inclusive national reconciliation process, as well as necessary confidence-building measures in the humanitarian and socio-economic areas, including the establishment of a broad-based poverty alleviation commission.

It’s worth asking, therefore, how the Naypyidaw regime comes to angrily attack Petrie’s remarks as "unprecedented" and "very negative."

Burmese political analysts point out that the regime, faced with international condemnation of its ferocious crackdown on protesting Buddhist monks, may have wanted to exploit Petrie’s departure as a way to show how far the authority of Burmese junta's chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe extends.

Sources close to the army say there are many educated, sophisticated Burmese military officers who would agree with the UN coordinator's assessment and who recognize that Than Shwe is attempting to establish a monarchy-style rule which could lead the country into a dark age and deeper into the category of a failed state. A former military public relations employee told The Irrawaddy: "Than Shwe wants all of his military men to know that he can expel whoever in this country he controls—even the head of UNDP."

It’s thus hard to imagine how legitimate humanitarian concerns can be tactfully expressed by international agencies, including those of the UN, in the political environment created by Than Shwe and his hard-line generals, who aren’t shy of making enemies.

It will be interesting to hear what Petrie has to say about his experience in Burma—and the opportunity presents itself on December 10-11, when he will be speaking at an Australian National University conference on Burma, together with Richard Horsey, who also recently left Rangoon after his term expired as the resident representative in Rangoon of the International Labour Organisation.