Shwe Mann

Thura Shwe Mann (သူရ ရွှေမန်း, ; 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.

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.

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.

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.

It has been alleged that Than Shwe feared Shwe Mann’s comeuppance, and decided to balance his aspirations and power by choosing Thein Sein for the position of President and Tin Aung Myint Oo as Vice-President.

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.

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.

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.”

He was seen as the most likely successor to General Maung Aye, who was Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

Allegedly, Shwe Mann and Maung Aye were political rivals.

This claim has been raised specifically in relation to the 2006 offensive against the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA).

He was elected to parliament in the 2010 general election.

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.

Shwe Mann has had a close relationship to former dictator General Than Shwe.

He is a former army 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.

He was later selected as Speaker of the Lower House at the first regular session of the Pyithu Hluttaw in 2011.

He was crucial in the newly-found activism of the Lower House vis-à-vis the Upper House and the executive.

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 Shwe Mann and Thein Sein, the former 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 later founded the Union Betterment Party (UBP), which existed from 2019 to 2022.