Mizzima News

New Delhi (Mizzima) - The Burmese military junta's reshuffle of its ministry last week that saw Deputy Foreign Minister Kyaw Thu dumped to an inactive minister level portfolio will have no impact on the chairmanship and the work of the Tripartite Core Group, which he heads now, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Burma said on Monday.

Bishow Parajuli, during a press conference in Bangkok on Monday, said the transfer of Kyaw Thu, who leads the UN, Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Burmese government's Tripartite Core Group, will make no differences to the work of the TCG.

"I don't think this will seriously affect the work of TCG," Parajuli told Mizzima.

Last week, Burma's military regime secretly transferred Kyaw Thu from his post of Deputy Foreign Minister to the Civil Service Selection and Training Board, which is a minister level post with little to do.

While the junta made no official announcement regarding the reshuffle, its official mouthpiece the New Light of Myanmar on Thursday mentioned Kyaw Thu as the chairman of the Civil Service Selection and Training Board.

The New Light of Myanmar report showed photographs of Kyaw Thu at Wednesday's 61st anniversary of Sri Lanka's Independence Day in Rangoon.

Parajuli, however, believes that the changes will not impact TCG's work. Rather he believes it will help Kyaw Thu to be more dedicated to his responsibilities as the Chairman of the group.

"I hope he can put in more effort for TCG as he's been transfered to another position which will makes him less busy," Parajuli told Mizzima on the sidelines of a Press Conference held after the TCG's review meeting in Bangkok.

The TCG said it will require nearly US $ 700 million to reconstruct the damage caused by Cyclone Nargis that left about 140,000 dead or missing and 2.4 million lives devastated.

Kyaw Thu, on Monday was seen attending the TCG's work review but failed to make an appearance at the Press Conference held after the meeting.

Reporting by Zarni, writing by Mungpi