Aung Kyi

U Aung Kyi is a minister in the cabinet of the junta of the State Peace and Development Council in Myanmar. In October 2007, he received an additional, concurrent appointment as minister for relations to detained National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. [http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2AA90663-8A8C-4442-B6A5-F7DC49CE171C.htm Myanmar appoints Suu Kyi 'liaison'] , Al Jazeera; retrieved 2007-11-19] On 24 October 2007, he was appointed of Minister for Labour [http://www.myanmar.com/newspaper/nlm/index.html State Peace and Development Council Order No 4/2007] , New Light of Myanmar published in Thursday, October 25, 2007; retrieved 2007-11-21] .

Career

Aung Kyi is a retired major general in the Military of Myanmar. [ [http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=9275 Decoding Aung San Suu Kyi's statement] , "The Irrawaddy"; retrieved 2007-11-19.] He was named deputy minister for labor in November 2006, and in that capacity has been in charge of relations with the International Labor Organization. In February 2007, he brokered a deal with the ILO to establish a new system of reporting of complaints of forced labor. He was appointed Minister for Labour in October 2007.

Aung Kyi has a reputation for relative accessibility, compared to the predominantly secretive leaders of the junta. [ [http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=3&set_id=1&art_id=nw20071008223643256C330024 Myanmar leaders name Suu Kyi liaison] , Associated Press/Independent Online; retrieved 2007-11-19] [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/08/AR2007100800192.html Myanmar Junta Names Liaison to Suu Kyi] , Associated Press/Washington Post; retrieved 2007-11-19.] [ [http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/refdaily?pass=463ef21123&id=470b1fd68 Myanmar liaison for Suu Kyi noted moderate] , Agence France-Press/United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; retrieved 2007-11-19.]

Aung Kyi's appointment as the junta's official liaison to Aung San Suu Kyi in October 2007 followed worldwide condemnation of the junta after its violent crackdown on the 2007 Burmese anti-government protests. The junta then sought to reopen talks with Suu Kyi, the detained leader of the National League for Democracy. [http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-10-08-liaison-suu-kyi_N.htm Burma's opposition: No preconditions for talks] , Associated Press/USA Today; retrieved 2007-11-19]

The creation of the Cabinet-level position of liaison minister, to "smooth relations with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi", had been suggested to the State Peace and Development Council by United Nations envoy Ibrahim Gambari, who had been working on a diplomatic solution to the political crisis in Myanmar.

Aung Kyi's appointment as minister of relations is concurrent with his duties as minister of labour.

References