Myanmar’s incoming government announced plans on Thursday to create a ministry for ethnic affairs, marking the importance it places on relations with minorities in a country scarred by festering civil
Myanmar’s incoming government announced plans on Thursday to create a ministry for ethnic affairs, marking the importance it places on relations with minorities in a country scarred by festering civil wars and sectarian tensions.
The move was contained within a wider civil service reform plan announced in Parliament that aims to streamline the unwieldy junta-era bureaucracy, slashing the total number of ministries from 36 to 21.
A new civilian leadership, led by Aung San Suu Kyi and her presidential proxy Htin Kyaw, will take office at the end of March.
The ministry plans will be debated by legislators on Friday, Parliament Speaker Mann Win Khaing Than said. They will be implemented after Htin Kyaw is sworn in on March 30.
Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) has vowed to run a more inclusive administration open to Myanmar’s ethnic minorities, many of whom chafed under military rule and frequently launched armed struggles seeking greater autonomy.
Last week an ethnic Chin Christian, backed by the NLD, was elected as one of two vice-presidents, while the party has pledged to form a Cabinet from across the political spectrum.
Myanmar is still burdened by the legacy of half a century of junta domination that plunged the nation into poverty and isolation.
The new government faces an obstacle course of challenges as it takes the reins of power, including ethnic conflicts, poverty and the residual power of the Army.
It also inherits a notoriously inefficient and creaking bureaucracy, that was neglected, underfunded and riddled with corruption during military rule.
