Than Htay

Than Htay (Burmese: သန်းဌေး; born 12 November 1954) is a Burmese politician who served as Chairman of the Union Solidarity and Development Party from August 2016 to September 2022 due to medical treatment.[3][4] He previously served as the Minister for Rail Transportation, and Minister for Energy. He is a retired brigadier general in the Myanmar Army.[5]

Than Htay
သန်းဌေး
Chairman of the Union Solidarity and Development Party
In office
23 August 2016 – 12 September 2022
Vice ChairmanMyat Hein (2016–2022)
Khin Yi (2019–2022)
Preceded byThein Sein
Succeeded byKhin Yi
Leader of the Opposition
In office
23 August 2016 – 31 January 2021
PresidentHtin Kyaw
Win Myint
Preceded byThein Sein
Minister of Rail Transportation of Myanmar
In office
25 July 2013 – 12 August 2015[1]
Preceded byZayar Aung
Minister of Energy of Myanmar
In office
30 March 2011 – 25 July 2013
Preceded byLun Thi
Succeeded byZayar Aung
Member of the Pyithu Hluttaw
In office
31 January 2011 – 30 March 2011
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byKyaw Myint (NLD)
ConstituencyMyanaung Township
Majority81,996 (76.99%)[2]
Deputy Minister of Energy of Myanmar
In office
2010 – 30 March 2011
Personal details
Born (1954-11-12) 12 November 1954
Myanaung Township, Union of Burma
NationalityMyanmar
Political partyUnion Solidarity and Development Party
SpouseSoe Wut Yee
Alma materDefence Services Academy
Military service
Allegiance Myanmar
Branch/serviceMyanmar Army
Years of service-2010
Rank Brigadier General

Early life

Than Htay was born on 12 November 1954 in Ayeyarwady Region. When he was 17, he was accepted into the Defence Services Academy and earned a bachelor of arts and a master’s degree in defense.

Military and political career

Serving in the military until 2010, he peaked as a brigadier general. He left the army at the rank of brigadier general in 2003 to become deputy minister of energy, before being promoted to minister in 2011.

He joined the Union Solidarity and Development Party at its founding in the lead-up to the 2010 election. He won election to the Pyithu Hluttaw, representing Myanaung township, in the 2012 by-election. In 2013, he became minister for energy and for railways. In January 2013, his ministry awarded two new deep-water oil and gas blocks to Thai energy firm PTT Exploration and Production without using a bidding process. The ministry also approved MPRL E&P to extend its contract without a bidding process to operate the Mann oil field in central Myanmar. Due to his controversial decisions over the awarding of exploration licenses and production concessions as a minister, Than Htay was transferred to the Ministry of Rail Transportation on 25 July 2013.[6][7] He resigned from the post after Thein Sein picked him as a USDP candidate for the 2015 general election.[8]

He publicly supported the controversial Protection of Race and Religion Laws — a set of four laws to regulate religious conversion and population-control measures that passed under sustained lobbying from ultra-nationalist groups.[9]

In November 2015, he ran for re-election but was defeated. In the 2020 Myanmar general election, he won a House of Representatives seat representing Naypyitaw's Zeyathiri Township.[10][11]

Personal life

Than Htay is married to Soe Wut Yee.[12]

References
  1. "Top ministers resign". Eleven. 13 August 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  2. "Irrawaddy Division". Alternative Asean Network on Burma. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  3. "Myanmar's army-backed party to replace chief with general's ally". Nikkei Asia. 23 September 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  4. Ei Ei Toe Lwin (24 August 2016). "U Thein Sein steps down as USDP chair". The Myanmar Times. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  5. Kudo, Toshihiro (26 July 2011). "New Government in Myanmar: Profiles of Ministers". Institute of Developing Economies – Japan External Trade Organization. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. "PTTEP didn't pay bribes: Energy Minister". The Nation. 13 August 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  7. "Transparency concerns led to energy minister swap". The Myanmar Times. 4 August 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  8. "U Thein Sein steps down as USDP chair". The Myanmar Times. 24 August 2016.
  9. "Meet the New Leaders of the Opposition". The Irrawaddy. 25 August 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  10. "USDP leader promises better future if opposition wins". The Myanmar Times. 11 September 2020.
  11. "Election 2020 | NLD Sues Chief of Myanmar Military Proxy Party for Using Inflammatory Rhetoric Ahead of Election". The Irrawaddy. 28 December 2020.
  12. "လက်ထပ်မင်္ဂလာဧည့်ခံပွဲကျေးဇူးတင်လွှာ" (PDF). ကြေးမုံ (in Burmese). 2007-12-01. p. 12.
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