The chair of Myanmar’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Aung Kyi, stepped down from his position on Tuesday, months before his term was due to end.
President Win Myint has accepted his resignation, which went into effect immediately. The commission will announce the move at a suitable time, a source told Myanmar Now.
On his Facebook page, Aung Kyi wrote that he had spent more than a year preparing to begin a life dedicated to meditation, which he had expected to start early next year.
He said that he was now ready to embark on his religious path and would be shutting down his Facebook accounts, under the names Ko Tuu and Aung Kyi, on December 12.
Despite his resignation, the ACC is expected to continue with its normal operations until a new chair is appointed. He was due to be replaced at the end of March 2021.
Aung Kyi told Myanmar Now in June that he had taken action in a number of cases under the anti-corruption law during his term and was working to prevent potential cases of corruption.
However, he said the commission did not have the power to prevent or investigate potential conflicts of interests involving government officials and their private businesses because the anti-corruption law does not have any provisions for this.
Aung Kyi was appointed ACC chair in November 2017. The commission’s 15 members are nominated by the president and both houses of the Union parliament, but the chair and secretary are appointed by the president with the approval of parliament.
He previously held two cabinet posts—minister of labour, social welfare, relief and resettlement and minister of information—in the quasi-civilian government of former president Thein Sein.
As a major general under Myanmar’s former junta, his most prominent role was as a liaison officer for negotiations between military leaders and then opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Under his direction, the ACC took action against Yangon region’s former attorney general Han Htoo and five other officials, as well as 32 tax officers, Food and Drug Administration director general Dr Than Htut, and Tanintharyi region chief minister Lei Lei Maw.
He also opened a branch of the anti-corruption commission in Naypyitaw and set up regional branches in Yangon and Mandalay regions and Mon and Shan states.
According to Transparency International’s Global Corruption Barometer Asia 2020, Myanmar ranked first in Southeast Asia for its handling of anti-corruption procedures.
