I suppose what people want to know is - if the opposition do win the election in November will the army respect that result and allow them to govern?
Whoever wins. Whoever wins- I will respect the result if they win fairly.
The Tatmadaw has been criticised for a lack of accountability in the past there have been case in Kachin state where 2 women were raped and killed and the local people blamed that on the Myanmar army and also in Karen state where a man called Par Gyi was killed. Do you accept that there is an issue of accountability?
That case was not in Kachin it was somewhere in Shan State. Our forces have their own disciplinary code. For instance we have 1959 Military Act which is taken from the British time. This is a very good one. We also have instructions and regulations. If a soldier offends he cannot escape - we take action effectively. Some people think we take things lightly in some trials. It’s not true. There are some cases where we took severe action. I’d like to say we take serious action.
In that case of two Kachin women if they are found guilty of homicide they will surely get the death penalty - and for the rape case they will serve the maximum punishment. We will give them the maximum punishment. The military don’t tolerate these things. In this Kachin women’s case according to the evidence I believe that our soldiers aren’t involved in it. But we don’t have all the witnesses because some have fled because of pressure from the other side. If we can bring these witnesses we can get a clearer answer. If this result comes the action will be taken to those who are responsible first from a judicial point of view. From our military side we will take maximum penalty as well.
In the Par Gyi case we have something called “Active Service Time” - according to that regulation soldiers are protected at that time. In the Par Gyi case in Karen state that happened in a conflict area. He was captured as someone linked to the armed group. He did not mention that he was a journalist or a civilian at all.While he was under detention, he attacked the guard and tried to escape, he was shot dead. So this happened on Active Service Time so the soldier was protected accordingly. We did it according to the 1959 military law. If Par Gyi told them he was journalist and a civilian I don’t think this would have happened.
So I mention this thing because you asked about it. There are many cases where we took serious action- like recently when our soldier visited a house of an ethnic woman who he used to visit - and then he was accused of rape by the woman and arrested by the villagers. There is no evidence he raped her but to protect the reputation of the army and to avoid public misunderstanding we gave him seven years in prison.
Our soldiers are not perfect. Men are difficult to manage. There’s also military rules and regulations in other countries so we are also acting according with laws. There has been many cases where we took action. So I would say it’s not a problem that we are unaccountable as you said.
One place that’s been in the global news recently has been Rakhine State and the story of people leaving to go to Malaysia and Thailand - I was wondering if you had any feelings or vision for what might be a long term solution to the problems in Rakhine State?
I think your question is regarding the Bengali issue. The Bengali are one of the communities who exist in Rakhine State. There are some Bengalis who fl ed from Bangladesh to Malaysia. There are people who fled from the other side which is their own issue. This is Bangladesh’s problem. I’d like to stress this first. They have to sort that out themselves. Bengalis in fact - the majority of them are people who were brought into Rakhine during British time as labour. There are many descendants born from that generation - without control. They are not an ethnic group - as they are not an ethnic group there is no way they can get ethnic rights. But we can give humanitarian assistance legally. So they can get that aid. We are trying to solve this problem within the existing laws. First of all these people should stay in our country according to our laws. It’s important they respect the laws. Our own ethnic people and them must respect the laws in our country. We have citizenship laws - after they gone through scrutiny under that law we will decide on their issue. After all that there will maybe some country who will take responsibility.
It’s important that those countries take responsibility. To solve that problem these countries needs to understand and accept it. Our country is among them. I mean all the responsible countries.
In this case they need to respect the rule of law and there should not be people inside the country to create instability. Everyone should share this duty. We can only overcome this problem by this way. If there is any disturbance it could take longer to solve the problem.
UN regulations should also be respected by stakeholders.
It’s been widely reported that you plan to retire from the army this year - is that true and do you have ambitions to go into politics - for example if you were asked to be President of Myanmar is that a job you’d like to do?
First of all it’s not true that I’m going to retire this year. Because I turn 60 next year. So I will be 60 in 2016 from a legal point of view. It is also depends on politics. I’ve been serving in the military for forty years to become a Commander-in- Chief of Defence Services. I’ve lots of experience during this time. For instance as a military member I have to take the oath every day to defend this country, risking our lives. If needed we have to serve the country in any role. This is our national politics. As your question goes - if people ask this duty I will decide then. The duty of a soldier is to serve the country in whatever role. As a citizen of this country I’m ready to serve for the sake of the country. In our country there are qualifications of President according to our law- If I meet those criteria so I’ve got a chance. If I don’t meet them I have no chance. If I meet this criteria and the people demand- then I will respond to it. But what I’m doing now is for the interests of the country. A part from the people’s demands I have to respect the law I can’t overstep it.
So just to be clear if in March of next year parliament asked you to be President you would consider it?
It is important that the proposal (is made) . Because you asked “if” I can only answer at that time. I can’t talk hypothetically.
I follow you on Facebook and I can see on your Facebook page that you like to go out - you like to meet people, you like to visit injured soldiers in hospital - you’re speaking to me now - which is a first for the Myanmar army. You seem very different from your predecessors - why have you decided to open up and make yourself more available to the public?
First thank you for following me on Facebook. In your very first question you asked about the reform process in the army and I answered yes. In the past the public didn’t know about some parts of the military. In my time I like to release news about the army to the public much more. This is part of the reforms. The people get the right information about the army they will understand us - that the military is defending the interests of the people and implementing the interests of the people and defending against the threats to the country. So people will understand and realise that the military leaders are serving in the interests of the country. And the army and the people will come together. This is something I’d like to see. I’m a military leader born from civilian parents so almost all the members of the army are born from normal people - there are some born from military family members. But even those military families are born from normal people. So we can’t be separate from the people. So as the army are born from the people - the people are like the parents to us. We always regard in this way and try and gain the trust of the people. So as we release the news on social media and through other media like Myawady TV and newspapers. I myself am in touch with the media many times including you. In the previous times, there had very little exposure to media - there used to be some press in the past but not at the one to one level. In my time I try to meet as much as possible now three times - I also met those who I should meet. I’m also in touch with many people in public because I wish people would understand that the army and people are together. This is what we are doing honestly. There are many fake accounts on social media that attack us. By opening up official accounts I believe the attacks on us will reduce - that’s why I’m doing so.
Now we meet - if we’d not met you’d have heard about me from a third person. Now we meet in person and we talk. I believe that you will have less scepticism of me - even if you used to have it.
By engaging on social media people will know actually what we are doing and have a good image of us - and what we are doing for the country including you. What we are doing is a good thing.
The Myawady Daily , (Page-18)
#Themyawadydaily
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