The decision by Myanmar’s military rulers to move the administrative capital to a secret mountain compound was as sudden as it was inexplicable, leaving observers wondering on Tuesday why the already reclusive junta is pushing itself deeper into isolation.
”This place is very far from civilisation. I have no idea why they’re moving,” Lwin, spokesperson for the opposition National League for Democracy, said of the compound outside Pyinmana, 320km north of Yangon.
Some say Myanmar’s generals are afraid of a US invasion. Others think that they are following instructions from astrologers, or seeking to put their stamp on the nation’s history.
Most see strategic military importance in shifting the operations of government and the military out of Yangon and into the secret mountain camp in the forests.
”According to the unofficial information, they are trying to organise the soldiers in case of United States intervention or invasion,” said Bo Kyi, an exiled dissident in Thailand who heads the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Myanmar.
”They already know the United States cannot invade. But they’re playing a trick on their soldiers, and on their followers” to build support within the ranks, he said.
Rumours that the junta fears a US attack have swirled since the invasion of Iraq.
Yangon, easily accessible by sea, would be an easy target, while Pyinmana’s mountainous location in the forest makes it more easily defensible.
But some people say there might be some other reasons, like their belief in astrology.
”Maybe they got some advice from astrologers” to move the capital, said Maung Maung Myint, secretary of the exile Burma Media Association.
The town of Pyinmana is where revered independence leader General Aung San kept his military headquarters during the Japanese occupation in World War II.
Aung San was the father of NLD’s leader and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest in Yangon.
The military informed diplomats and journalists in Yangon of the shift on Monday, but as yet no news of the move has appeared in official media here.
The information minister, Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan, said in the official announcement that Pyinmana was chosen because it lies on main road and rail lines, with easy access to the rest of the country.
Diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that would also put the military closer to the lawless border regions where it still fights ethnic rebels despite a slate of ceasefires last year.
Even after the government ministries and the military headquarters complete their move, liaison offices will remain in Yangon, the diplomats said. The government has said embassies and international organisations do not need to move.
Thai Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon said in Bangkok that his government only learned of the move from news reports.
”I’m not sure whether this will be permanent. I think soon we will find out the truth,” he said.
A senior official in the home affairs ministry said construction of the site, believed to be 65km in diameter, was 70% complete.
”It will take a time for the shifted staff to familiarise themselves with this place. It may take one year,” he said.
People involved with the construction said the military displaced villages to clear the land for the compound.
The International Laboru Organisation said in March it had received reports that thousands of residents were forced into labour to help build facilities for army batallions.
One western diplomat in Yangon said the junta seemed to want to cement its place in history by following the path of ancient Burmese kings who left their mark with massive building projects.
”It’s almost the same thing. They will have a new capital, dams, big bridges,” he said.
Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962.
The US and European Union have imposed sanctions for its suppression of the pro-democracy movement, including the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi.
The junta says the next session of constitutional talks on its self-declared ”road map” to democracy will resume on December 5. Critics describe the talks as a sham since they have been boycotted by the NLD.
The NLD won a landslide election victory in 1990 but was never allowed to take power. – AFP
