‘Survival at any cost’: Myanmar generals move to cement power | Military News

Bangkok/ Yangon – Failing to subdue resistance across Myanmar, military government chief Min Aung Hlaing is resorting to increasingly desperate measures to cling to power, firing senior ministers and military officers, and purging business cronies.

The heads of the navy and air force are among those who have lost their positions, as Min Aung Hlaing has sought to consolidate his position amid continued armed resistance to his rule — including with ethnic armed groups along the borders — a rebellious population in the heartland, and economic crisis.

After plunging by nearly 20 percent in the year after the February 1, 2021 coup, the World Bank has forecast growth of 3 percent this year for Myanmar’s economy and warned of “substantial risks”.

“When it starts dismissing its own team and established business cronies it does suggest its position is highly fragile and its…