Saw Maung (; ; 5 December 1928 – 24 July 1997) was a Burmese military leader and statesman who served as Chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) and Prime Minister of Burma from 1988 until 1992, when he was deposed by rival generals who disapproved Saw Maung decisions that were in favor of

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 ...

. Besides this, he was the 8th Commander-in-Chief of the

Tatmadaw The Tatmadaw, also known as the Sit-Tat, is the armed forces of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services include ...

. He was the first Burmese general to get the rank of Senior General, which was created for him in 1990.

Early life and career

He was born on 5 December 1928 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 ...

British Burma British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...

. Saw Maung joined the army in 1945, three years before the country gained

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

from Britain, and received a commission in 1952. From 1974 to 1976, he fought against communist insurgents and ethnic rebels along the border with

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. In 1976, he became a brigadier general, and in 1981 an adjutant-general. He became armed forces commander in 1983. Saw Maung was army

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

and

defence minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

in the brief government of

Sein Lwin Sein Lwin (, ; 27 January 1924 – 9 April 2004) was a Burmese politician and retired military general in the Myanmar Army. He was served as the sixth president of Burma for 17 days in 1988, following the resignation of San Yu. Sein Lwin was ...

and became chairman of the junta when the army staged its coup in 1988 after the 8888 Uprising. He was an effective ruler of the country as head of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). He also held the posts of prime minister and

minister of foreign affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

. As a high-ranking member of the

Burma Socialist Programme Party The Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) was the ruling party of Burma (now Myanmar) from 1962 to 1988 and the country's sole legal party from 1964 to 1988. Party chairman Ne Win overthrew the country's democratically elected government i ...

(BSPP), he provided continuity of leadership during a succession of short-lived predecessors that followed the toppling of

Ne Win Ne Win (; ; 24 May 1911 – 5 December 2002), born Shu Maung (; ), was a Burmese army general, politician and Prime Minister of Burma from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1974, and also President of Burma from 1962 to 1981. Ne Win was Burma's mili ...

earlier in 1988.

Chairman of SLORC

Saw Maung assumed responsibility as chairman of the newly formed State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) on 18 September 1988, replacing the

(BSPP) and promised multi-party elections to follow soon. He publicly stated that he would hand over power to the winning party and would have the army return to the barracks; where in his own words they "rightfully belonged". This proved to be too much for hardliners in the military and loyalists of

. SLORC held free elections in 1990. The 1990 parliamentary elections were won by the

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 ...

(NLD) led by

. Saw Maung was willing to hand the power to the civilian government; however, other generals representing the hardline faction of the SLORC did not agree to this, and successfully prohibited Saw Maung from respecting the results. At this point he lost control of the

military junta A military junta () is a system of government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''Junta (governing body), junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the Junta (Peninsular War), national and local junta organized by t ...

, and acted as a figurehead. Saw Maung resigned as chairman of SLORC in April 1992. According to the

this was for health reasons. However, this was the result of Saw Maung being sedated, isolated and quietly removed from power in a palace coup, after which it was widely reported that Saw Maung's mental health was rapidly deteriorating, and that he believed himself to be the reincarnation of an 11th-century warrior-king. His departure however was orchestrated by Than Shwe and

Maung Aye Maung Aye (; ; born 25 December 1937) is a retired Burmese army general who played a significant role in Myanmar's military government. He served as Vice Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the ruling military junta of M ...

, who used Saw Maung's weakness as an opportunity to seize power and preserve the hardline profile of the

. Saw Maung nextly lived in quiet retirement with his mental fantasies, making him unable to take decisions. He subsequently died on 24 July 1997 due to a heart attack.

Family and personal life

He married Daw Aye Yee who died on 25 December 2004. He is succeeded by his three children; two sons and a daughter, and three grandchildren. Saw Maung was also a golfer and a devout Buddhist.

References

Burma Library Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saw Maung 1928 births 1997 deaths Foreign ministers of Myanmar Defence ministers of Myanmar Government ministers of Myanmar People from Mandalay Burma Socialist Programme Party politicians Leaders who took power by coup 20th-century Burmese Buddhists Recipients of the Alinkar Kyawswar