Aye Tha Aung ( also spelt Aye Thar Aung; born: 10 December 1945) is a Burmese politician, former

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although ...

and former Deputy Speaker of the Amyotha Hluttaw, the upper house of the Myanmar parliament. In the 2015 election, he contested and won the

Rakhine State Rakhine State ( ; , ; ), formerly known as Arakan State, is a Administrative divisions of Myanmar, state in Myanmar (Burma). Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by Chin State to the north, Magway Region, Bago Region and Ayeyarwady Re ...

№ 6 constituency for a seat in the country's upper house.

Early life

He is an ethnic Rakhine and was born in Myebon Township,

on 10 December 1945. He had only received a high school education. He previously served as a

sergeant major Sergeant major is a senior Non-commissioned officer, non-commissioned Military rank, rank or appointment in many militaries around the world. History In 16th century Spain, the ("sergeant major") was a general officer. He commanded an army's ...

in the Burmese Army and worked in the Military Industry Corporation. He was dismissed and imprisoned in

Mandalay Mandalay is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. It is located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631 km (392 mi) north of Yangon. In 2014, the city had a population of 1,225,553. Mandalay was founded in 1857 by Ki ...

as a result of his underground political activities, and was released through an amnesty in 1974.

Political career

Aye Tha Aung has worked with

Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Myanmar), Ministe ...

since 1990 when he was a member of the Committee Representing the People’s Parliament (CRPP), formed by the National League for Democracy and victorious ethnic politicians to push for the convening of a parliament seating the 1990 election winners. He was arrested in 2000 by

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis List of intelligence gathering disciplines, approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist Commanding officer, commanders in decision making pr ...

and was handed a 21-year jail sentence for breaking publication and emergency laws. He is believed to have undergone tough interrogation in prison, and has suffered various health problems and had neck surgery. He was released in 2002. He is a strong defender of the rights of the

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

Rakhine people, but he is seen as a less strident nationalist than party leader Aye Maung. He formerly chaired the Arakan League for Democracy that merged with the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party to form the

Arakan National Party The Arakan National Party (; abbreviated ANP), is a political party in Myanmar (Burma), representing the interests of the Rakhine people in Rakhine State and Yangon Region. The party was founded on 13 January 2014 and registered with the Unio ...

in 2014. He is a senior leader of the

, and a longtime political comrade of

National League for Democracy The National League for Democracy (, ; Abbreviation, abbr. NLD; Burmese abbr. ဒီချုပ်) is a deregistered liberal democratic political party in Myanmar (formerly Burma). It became the country's ruling party after a landslide victo ...

leader

. Following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état on 1 February, Aye Tha Aung was placed under

house arrest House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...

by the Myanmar armed forces.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aye Tha Aung Prisoners and detainees of Myanmar Members of the House of Nationalities 1945 births Living people Rakhine people People from Rakhine State Arakan National Party politicians Arakanese politicians