By Mon Lay / MPA
Myanmar’s military leader has called for a significant overhaul of the country’s civil service, urging a shift towards military-style discipline and strict obedience within government ministries.
Addressing senior officers at the National Defence College via video link on Tuesday, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing emphasized the need to “systematically supervise” government employees and instill what he termed a “patriotic spirit” aligned with the military’s ideology.
Analysts view the General’s directive as an attempt to shore up a crumbling administrative machinery by imposing a command structure similar to that of the armed forces.
“The junta is trying to force the wavering civil administration into a system that obeys orders without question, just like the military,” a political analyst told the MPA.
The observer noted that by targeting training institutions like the National Defence College, which hosts both military and senior civil service trainees, the regime is paving the way to bring all civilian departments under total military control.
Inside government offices, the atmosphere is described as increasingly tense. Current staff members report feeling watched rather than managed.
“It is no longer a normal working environment,” said one civil servant who has not joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). “It’s less about discipline and more about surveillance—worrying about who is watching you.”
“The more the top leadership talks about ‘systematic supervision,’ the more suffocated we feel at the bottom,” the staff member added.
The push for stricter control comes as the junta faces a severe shortage of skilled labour. While the regime recently offered to remove striking workers from blacklists to encourage their return, critics say the simultaneous move to militarise the workplace sends a contradictory and discouraging message.
Many observers interpret Min Aung Hlaing’s call for “efficiency” as a tacit admission that the administration is struggling to function following the mass exodus of qualified professionals since the 2021 coup.
