Shwe Mann

In August 2015, amidst reports of tensions between himself and Thein Sein, Shwe Mann was removed from his post as Chairman of the Union Solidarity and Development Party and replaced by Htay Oo. But he contested in 2015 General Election as a candidate representing USDP in Phyu Township constituency. He lost his seat to , Than Nyunt, NLD's candidate, but remained as a prominent figure and closed ally to Aung San Suu Kyi. He was appointed in February 2015 as head of the Commission for the Assessment of Legal Affairs and Special Issues.

Shwe Mann visited China before his 2015 official visit to the U.S. He has stressed that Myanmar and China are good neighbours and entertain friendly diplomatic relations. At the same time, he has called for greater transparency and accountability on Chinese investments.

In May 2013, he replaced President Thein Sein as head of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). That same year, he confirmed he would run for president in 2015. Amidst reports of tensions between himself and Thein Sein, he was removed from his post as head of the USDP in August 2015. Finally he was sacked from USDP together with other 17 senior members in April 2016. He is currently the Supreme Leader & Chairman of Union Betterment Party (UBP). He is the founder and it's been announced 200,000 members of his newly formed political party as of 2019. To transform Burma into a developed nation and superpower among ASEAN by 2030 is the ultimate purpose or target of General Thura Shwe Mannn and UBP.

He was elected Speaker of the Lower House at the first regular session of the House of Representatives in 2011. From 1 July 2013 to 29 January 2016 he became Speaker of the Assembly of the Union.

He was elected to Parliament in the 2010 general election. He was later selected as Speaker of the Lower House at the first regular session of the Pyithu Hluttaw in 2011. He has been crucial in the newly-found activism of the Lower House vis-à-vis the Upper House and the executive.

In September 2010, he retired from the army. Following his retirement, Shwe Mann became a candidate for the newly created Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). He was selected as a representative for Zay Yar Thiri constituency in the 2010 general election.

He has been praised for reaching out to political activist groups, including the 88 Generation Students Group. He has often remarked on the importance of upholding the 2008 Constitution.

A 2007 U.S. State Department cable called him “The Senior general’s Right-Hand Man.” The cable continues: “[…] when Than Shwe wants something done, … Shwe Mann usually conveys his orders to the army and enforces his will.”

He was also allegedly involved in repression of Saffron Revolution. According to another 2007 U.S. diplomatic cable, “by all accounts he willingly participated in the brutal repression of September’s pro-democracy protests.”

Oppositely, a U.S. State Department cable published by WikiLeaks in March 2007 was titled "Shwe Mann, Burma's Dictator-in-Waiting," and described him as an ambitious politician.

He was placed in the U.S. and EU sanction lists (Embassy Rangoon 2007; Martin 2012). He was removed from the U.S. sanction list in September 2012 because, in the words of Under Secretary David S. Cohen, he has "taken concrete steps to promote political reforms and human rights, and to move Burma away from repression and dictatorship toward democracy and freedom".

In October 2007, the U.S. Treasury placed Khin Shwe and Zaygabar on its list of individuals and business targeted for sanctions.

He has been seen as a staunch critic of corrupt practices amongst public officials. He had reportedly ordered action against corrupt authorities as far back as 2005. He criticised the government’s lack of transparency and accountability over public funds. He has firmly supported liberal reforms and the turn towards a market economy in Myanmar. He has been critical of Thein Sein’s “sluggish” approach to liberalisation, and has taken a strong stance against corrupt practices in the interest of “good governance.”

Aung Thet Mann is the Chief Executive officer at Ayer Shwe Wah, which became the first private company allowed to export rice to Bangladesh and Singapore in 2005. The company is part of Burmese tycoon Tay Za’s Htoo Group of Companies.

Shwe Mann played a key role in the ousting of Prime Minister Khin Nyunt in 2004. After Khin Nyunt’s arrest, Shwe Mann famously said that “Nobody is above the law.”

Toe Naing Mann is the founder of Red Link Communications, a major Burmese telecommunications group. In 2004, Toe Naing Mann married Zay Zin Latt, daughter of Khin Shwe, who is the president of Zaygabar Co. Ltd. and a leading Rangoon real estate mogul. Among its businesses, Zaygabar operates the Karaweik Restaurant, a structure on Kandawgyi Lake, and handles Kandawgyi People Park’s operations.

It has also been alleged that Shwe Mann was directly involved in the Depayin massacre, which saw the death of at least 70 people associated to the National League for Democracy (NLD). According to some sources, Gen Than Shwe ordered lower-ranking officers to carry out the attack on Aung San Suu Kyi’s convoy at Tabayin, March 2003. Than Shwe bypassed his deputy Maung Aye and Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, leaving Shwe Mann directly responsible for the military preparation of the attack.

In line with the SPDC’s developmental rhetoric, he supported a number of initiatives aimed at increasing agricultural productivity and food security. These included supporting seasonal crop rotation, and converting more than 1 million acres of low, dry and wetlands into cultivated land. This was possible thanks to improvements in water channelisation and river banks. 500,000 acres of intensive and extensive fishery farms were also created. He was promoted to Joint Chief of Staff of the Army, Navy, and Air Force in 2001. That same year, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. He became Chief of General Staff of the Armed Services in 2003. As a key figure in the SPDC, he seems to have overseen a number of offensives against ethnic insurgents. This claim has been raised specifically in relation to the 2006 offensive against the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA).

In the 2000s, he tried to forge closer ties with India, which he visited to appeal for more armaments in 2006. In November 2008, Shwe Mann travelled to North Korea and signed a memorandum of understanding on military cooperation. In an interview, he said that the Burmese counterpart "studied their air defence system, weapons factories, aircrafts [sic] and ships."

Shwe Mann has had a close relationship to former dictator General Than Shwe. When Than Shwe became commander-in-chief of the Tatmadaw in 1992, he made Shwe Mann one of his deputies. Although Than Shwe frequently shook up the ranks, firing ministers and military officials, Shwe Mann was allowed to rise through the ranks and become the third most powerful figure in the country.

He served as a Regiment Commander in Karen State and earned the honorific title Thura (brave hero) for his military campaign against the Karen National Liberation Army in 1988. The campaign led to the eventual capture of the Karen National Union (KNU)’s headquarters in the Methawaw Area. He served as a tactical operations commander for Light Infantry Division (LID) 66 based in Prome from 1993 to 1995. His achievements in the Karen state in 1994 meant that he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. He was commander of the elite LID 11 based in Inn Daing, near Yangon in 1996. In November 1997, he was promoted to the rank of major general and became a permanent member of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). That same year, he became commander of South-west Command in Pathein, Ayeyarwady Division. He concurrently served as the Chairman of the Ayeyarwady Peace and Development Council.

Shwe Mann graduated from the Defence Services Academy, Intake 11, Pyin Oo Lwin in 1969. He quickly rose through the ranks, and became major in 1986.

Thura Shwe Mann (Burmese: သူရ ရွှေမန်း, pronounced [θùja̰ ʃwè máɰ̃]; born 11 July 1947) is a Burmese politician who was Speaker of the Pyithu Hluttaw, the lower house of parliament from 31 January 2011 to 29 January 2016. He is a former general and, whilst being a protégé of senior general Than Shwe, was considered the third most powerful man in the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), which ruled Myanmar until 2011.

Shwe Mann, a Burmese Buddhist, was born on 11 July 1947 in Kanyuntkwin, Bago Division, to father Pho Phay, and mother Htay Yi. He is married to Khin Lay Thet, a former high school teacher. In a 2007-dated U.S. cable, she was recorded as a member of the Panel of Patrons and one of four vice presidents of the Myanmar Women’s Affairs Federation. They have two sons, Toe Naing Mann and Aung Thet Mann.