Zaw Myint Maung, the former Mandalay Chief Minister and vice-chair of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, died of leukemia at Mandalay General Hospital on Monday – one day after the regime granted him an amnesty on medical grounds.
“We won’t see you anymore when we get to Mandalay, but no one will forget that the city experienced a bright time under your governance. I believe that you defied injustice with a confident smile until the end,” Zin Mar Aung, the Minister of Foreign of Affairs for Myanmar’s civilian-led National Unity Government (NUG), posted on social media.
Zaw Myint Maung, 73, died while receiving treatment in the Mandalay Hospital’s intensive care unit. The NLD Central Working Committee member Kyaw Htway told DVB that his body was moved from the hospital to his home in Mandalay in preparation for the funeral. The BBC reported that a funeral will take place on Oct. 8.
The 73-year-old was first diagnosed with leukemia in late-2019. The regime arrested Zaw Myint Maung and other NLD officials – including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint – shortly after the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021.
Zaw Myint Maung was detained at Mandalay’s Obo Prison and was later sentenced to a total of 29 years in prison on nine charges, including corruption and for violating the Natural Disaster Management Law. He was hospitalized last month after his health rapidly deteriorated.
Mandalay residents said that military personnel, dressed in plain clothes, are stationed outside his home to prevent any public gatherings, or expressions of sympathy, to honor the ousted chief minister’s life.
Former prisoners at Obo Prison, who were jailed alongside Zaw Myint Maung, told DVB on the condition of anonymity that he was not provided with adequate medical care during his detention. “The military regime bears responsibility for everything that has happened to him,” Kyaw Zaw, the NUG spokesperson, told DVB.
Zaw Myint Maung first rose to political prominence after he won a parliamentary seat for the NLD party during the 1990 general elections, but was unable to take his post when the military overturned the results.
He was imprisoned for his pro-democracy activism from 1990 to 2009. But Zaw Myint Maung was finally allowed to take a seat in parliament representing Kyaukpadaung Township of Mandalay Region after winning the constituency in the 2012 by-elections.
He later won a seat for Amarapura Township of Mandalay Region during the 2015 elections. The NLD government appointed him as Mandalay Region Chief Minister in 2016.
