Chairman Maung Aye will be tough

Chairman Maung Aye will be tough, says Insider

Winds of change in the army structure 
Ceasefire groups being put on the alert

General Maung Aye, slated to succeed the outgoing Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, Senior general Than Shwe, 67, is going to wield a no-nonsense hand with all, including Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, according to an insider.

The new Vice Chairman will be Lt-Gen Tin Oo, 60, until now Secretary-2 and Chief of Staf of the Army, and Lt-Gen Win Myint, 57, currently Secretary 3, will become Secretary-2 and will receive his orders straight from Maung Aye instead of Khin Nyunt, 61, said the source.

Maung Aye, 60, is reported to have said repeatedly that he will not accept any office in which he is merely a "figurehead" like Gen Than Shwe. 

The Army will also be divided into 2 armies: the 1st Army, with its base in Prome, will be responsible for southern Burma, and the 2nd Army, with its headquarters in Maymyo (Pyin Oo Lwin), for northern Burma, he said. 
The 1st Army is to be commanded by Gen Sit Maung, at present Commander of the Coastal Region, and the 2nd by Gen Tin Aung Myint Oo, at present Commander of the Northeastern Region. The vacated offices will be filled in by Brig-Gen Aung Min and Brig-Gen Htay Oo, currently commanders of Light Infantry divisions, the 66th and 99th, respectively. 

Apart from that, most of the important posts will be held by the Defense Services Academy (DSA) graduates. "At present, only 2 of the 12 regional commands are held by the OTS (Officers Training School) graduates, and that is only out of courtesy," he said. [Gen Khin Nyunt is also one of the OTS graduates]. "Maung Aye and his cronies are going to do their best to outmanouver Khin Nyunt." 

With regards to the ceasefire groups, together with the still "legitimate" National League for Democracy of the beleaguered Aung San Suu Kyi, he would not be "wishy-washy" like Gen Khin Nyunt, according to him. 
"With the ceasefire groups, he will have only 3 options for them to decide upon: 

One, to surrender their arms and establish legal political paties instead;
Two, to return to non-political and non-partisan civilian life; and 
Three, to return to the armed struggle. They can make their own choice and he's ready to accommodate them," he said. 

It appears that Gen Khin Nyunt has to content himself with "playing second fiddle" to Gen Maung Aye from now on, because whereas in the past, the Military Intelligence Service, headed by the former, had been "calling the shots", during the past six months or so, he is witnessing the MIS requesting endorsements from the local commanders for its activities.

"We've been hearing about this imminent reshuffle so many times and nothing has happened so far," said a Burma watcher in China. "It can still turn out in an unexpected way."