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Thein Sein

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Thein Sein
သိန်းစိန်
Thein Sein childhood
President of Myanmar
Incumbent
Assumed office
30 March 2011
Vice PresidentTin Aung Myint Oo
Sai Mauk Kham
Preceded byThan Shwe (Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council)
Prime Minister of Myanmar
In office
24 October 2007 – 30 March 2011
Acting: April 2007 – 24 October 2007
LeaderThan Shwe
Preceded bySoe Win
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Personal details
Born (1945-04-20) 20 April 1945 (age 79)[1]
Kyounku, Burma
Political partyUnion Solidarity and Development Party (2010–present)
Other political
affiliations		State Peace and Development Council (Before 2010)
SpouseKhin Khin Win
Alma materDefence Services Academy
Military service
Branch/serviceMyanmar Army
Years of service1968–2010
RankGeneral

Thein Sein (Template:Lang-my, pronounced [θéiɴ sèiɴ]; born 20 April 1945) is a Burmese politician and military figure who has been president of Myanmar (Burma) since March 2011. Previously, he was Prime Minister from 2007 until 2011. He is generally considered to be a moderate and reformist in the new government.[2]

Political career

Thein Sein graduated from the 9th intake of the Defence Services Academy in 1968.[3]

Throughout Thein Sein's four-decade-long military career, he was considered a bureaucrat, not a combat soldier. In 1988, he served as a major for Sagaing Division's 55th Light Infantry Division and later served as a commander for Sagaing Division's 89th Infantry Battalion in Kalay Township. The following year, he studied at the Command and General Staff College in Kalaw, Shan State.

By 1991, he had returned to Yangon, after being promoted to the rank of colonel and 1st Grade General Staff Officer in the War Office. He was then promoted to Brigadier General, but remained at his position in the War Office, which marked the first time a Brigadier General was promoted to General Staff Officer.

In 1995, he was recruited as the commander of Yangon Division's Military Operations Command 4 in Hmawbi. A year later, in 1996, he was appointed to lead the new Triangle Regional Military Command in Kyaingtong, Shan State, serving this role for four years (1997-2001). In 1997, he became a member of the State Peace and Development Council and was appointed as Secretary-2 in 2003.[4][5] He was also promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General that year.[6]

After Khin Nyunt was deposed in 2004, Thein Sein was promoted to Secretary-1.[4]

Prime Minister

Thein Sein was appointed in April 2007 by the nation's ruling military junta[7] as interim prime minister, replacing Soe Win, who was undergoing medical treatment for leukemia.[8][9] Thein Sein was formally appointed as Soe Win's permanent successor on 24 October 2007 after Soe Win's death on 12 October 2007.[10]

Sein held the position of first secretary in the ruling State Peace and Development Council junta. He was the country's fourth-highest ranking general,[11] and also served as the chairman of the government-sponsored National Convention Convening Commission.[12] Thein Sein carried out high-level negotiations with Bangladesh and Cambodia.[8][9]

In 2007, sometime after his official appointment as prime minister, he was promoted to the rank of General from Lieutenant General.[13] On his first official visit outside Myanmar as prime minister, Thein Sein carried out high-level negotiations with Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.[14][15][16]

In the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, he led the National Disaster Preparedness Central Committee as chairman and was criticized for the government's systematic blocking of relief efforts.[5]

Presidency

Main article: Burmese general election, 2010

On 29 April 2010, he retired from the military, along with 22 other military officials, to lead the Union Solidarity and Development Party as a civilian.[17] During the 2010 general election, he was head of the Union Solidarity and Development Party, which contested in a controversial elections and won the overwhelming majority of seats in the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw. Thein Sein ran against National Unity Party candidate Kyaw Aye during the election, contesting a Pyithu Hluttaw seat to represent the constituents of Naypyidaw Union Territory's Zabu Thiri Township. He purportedly won 91.2% of the votes (65,620).[18]

On 4 February 2011, Sein was elected by the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw's Presidential Electoral College as the next president of Myanmar; he is officially the first civilian President the country has seen in almost 50 years. Tin Aung Myint Oo and Sai Mauk Kham were named as the new vice-presidents.[19]

Sein was sworn in on 30 March 2011 alongside the two vice presidents and the newly elected parliament.[20] In the first month of his presidency, he sought the support of ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan to support Burma's bid to chair the ASEAN Summit in 2014.[21] As of July 2011, the government has formed a planning committee led by foreign affairs minister Wunna Maung Lwin.[22]

Thein Sein has been considered a moderate and has not been opposed to engaging with Aung San Suu Kyi; he had a high-profile meeting with her in Naypyidaw on 19 August 2011.[23]

On 17 August 2011, he was quoted by the state newspaper, The New Light of Myanmar as saying:[24]

We will make reviews to make sure that Myanmar [Burmese] citizens living abroad for some reasons can return home if they have not committed any crimes. And if a Myanmar citizen in a foreign country who committed crimes applies for returning home to serve terms, we will show our benevolent attitude in dealing with his case.

Various news sources intrepreted his suggestion as an invitation for overseas Burmese citizens to return to their country of origin and help rebuild the Burmese economy.[25]

He suffers from heart disease and uses a pacemaker.[26][27]

References

  1. ^ List of Designated Persons
  2. ^ Ba Kaung (15 August 2011). "Will Naypyidaw's Olive Branch Bear Fruit?". The Irrawaddy. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  3. ^ "President Thein Sein". Alternative Asean Network on Burma. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  4. ^ a b "Lt-Gen Thein Sein is new PM". Myanmar Times. 29 October 2007. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  5. ^ a b "THEIN SEIN". Alternative Asean Network on Burma. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  6. ^ Tun Tun (3 February 2011). "Profiles of vice president nominees". Mizzma News. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  7. ^ "Countries Me-My". Rulers.org. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
  8. ^ a b Burmese junta choose stand-in PM, BBC. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
  9. ^ a b Burmese Junta Tips New Prime Minister. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
  10. ^ Myanmar appoints new PM, Xinhua. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
  11. ^ Myanmar paramount leader not nominated for president: MPs, Reuters. Retrieved 2011-02-01.
  12. ^ Work coordination meeting of National Convention Convening Commission, Work Committee and Management Committee held, The New Light of Myanmar. Retrieved 2004-04-20.
  13. ^ Myanmar PM to visit Laos, Vietnam, Xinhua. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
  14. ^ Burma's PM visits Vietnam, Associated Press via The Age. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
  15. ^ Laos, Myanmar set to enhance relations, Xinhua. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
  16. ^ Myanmar's prime minister visits Cambodia to garner support against sanctions
  17. ^ Wai Moe (5 May 2010). "Tight Censorship on Reporting USDP". The Irrawaddy. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  18. ^ "People's parliament candidates in Zabuthiri constituency (Naypyitaw Union Territory)". Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  19. ^ Burma ex-Prime Minister Thein Sein named new president, BBC, 4 February 2011.
  20. ^ http://www.dvb.no/news/president-sworn-in-spdc-dissolved/15033
  21. ^ "Burma as Asean Chair in 2014? Think Again". The Irrawaddy. 3 May 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  22. ^ Nyi Thit (25 July 2011). "Burma organizes committee to host Asean Summit". Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  23. ^ "Aung San Suu Kyi meets Burma's president Thein Sein". The Guardian. 19 August 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  24. ^ Ko Htwe (18 August 2011). "'Welcome Home' Greeted with Skepticism". The Irrawaddy. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  25. ^ "Burmese President Invites Return of Citizens Abroad". Voice of America. 17 August 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  26. ^ "Profile: Burmese leader Thein Sein". BBC News. 4 February 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  27. ^ McCoy, Clifford (4 May 2011). "Man in the mirror in Myanmar". Asia Times. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
Political offices
Preceded by Prime Minister of Myanmar
2007–2011 		Position abolished
Preceded by
Than Shwe
as Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council of Myanmar
 President of Myanmar
2011–present 		Incumbent

Template:Current EAS Leaders

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