Than Shwe

   (1933- )

   Senior general, chairman of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), and concurrently commander in chief of the Defence Services, minister of defence, and minister of agriculture. He also served as prime minister until this post was given to SPDC Secretary-1 Khin Nyunt in August 2003. Born in 1933 in Kyaukse, near Mandalay, he entered the military in 1953, completing the course at the Officers'Training School (ninth), serving in the Psychological Warfare Department before assuming commands in Shan and Karen (Kayin) States that assured him rapid promotion. Appointed commander of the Southwest Military Region in 1983, he attained the rank of lieutenant general four years later. He was appointed vice chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) when it was established on September 18, 1988, and also served as commander in chief of the Army. He succeeded Senior General Saw Maung as SLORC chairman on April 23, 1992, and remained in the same post when the SLORC was reorganized as the State Peace and Development Council in November 1997. Regarded by outsiders in the 1990s as an aging, neutral figure, who delayed retirement in order to stem rivalries between Khin Nyunt and Maung Aye, Than Shwe has often been underestimated. Observers now see him as the successor to Ne Win as the country's unitary "strong man," though he lacks the deceased leader's prestige and historical role in the independence movement. Than Shwe is a highly conservative figure, apparently willing to sacrifice Burma's post1988 open-door policies to preserve the military-dominated status quo. Lacking personal charisma, he is a reclusive leader, preferring to exercise his power ambiguously and from behind the scenes.

   See also State Peace and Development Council, Internal Dynamics.