Former Army General and current PrimeMinister U Thein Sein ( 66 ), who has been predicted by many representatives of the parliament as the man to assume the post of President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, was born on April
21, 1945.
His most important qualification has been described by these
representatives of the parliament as “his absolute loyalty to military
supremo Senior General Than Shwe.”
Having graduated from the Defence Services Academy ( DSA ) intake 9
in 1968, Thein Sein gradually went up rung after rung in the military
hierarchy becoming Colonel, General Staff Officer Grade ( 1 ) in 1991
under Than Shwe, who was at that time Commander-in-Chief ( Army ).
Later, Thein Sein was promoted to Brigadier-General. In this capacity
he continued to serve as General Staff Officer at the War Office.
In 1996, Thein Sein was promoted to the post of Commander of Triangle
Region Military Command in Eastern Shan State. In this capacity, he
remained up to 2001.
In the early months of 2001, Thein Sein was promoted as Adjutant
General at the War Office in Yangon.
Under Senior General Than Shwe’s blessings, Thein Sein was appointed
as Secretary ( 1 ) of the State Peace and Development Council ( SPDC )
on October 19, 2004. His rank too was pushed up to Lieutenant General.
Together with the high post of Secretary ( 1 ) of the SPDC, Thein
Sein still held the post of Adjutant General of Myanmar Defence
Services.
In his capacity as Secretary ( 1 ) of the SPDC, Lt-Gen Thein Sein was
given another important post as Chairman of the National Convention
Convening Commission when the National Convention resumed holding its
sessions on May 17, 2004 after its 8-year postponement from March 30,
1996 following the boycott staged by NLD.
Thein Sein was made Prime Minister on October 14, 2007, a few days
after the death of Prime Minister Soe Win.
On April 29, 2010, General Thein Sein retired from military service
and formed the military government’s proxy party namely the Union
Solidarity and Development Party ( USDP ) together with 27 other
ministers and deputy ministers, who also took off their military
uniforms to take part in politics.
Thein Sein successfully contested from a constituency in Nay Pyi Taw
on USDP ticket on November 7, 2010 elections.
The biggest handicap of Thein Sein is his heart disease. No one knows
how serious is his heart problem.
http://www.bdcburma.org/
