NUG reshuffles cabinet, elevates Zaw Wai Soe to key leadership position

The National Unity Government has reshuffled its cabinet, cutting the number of ministries and assigning senior leader Dr. Zaw Wai Soe to the Prime Minister’s Office, according to an official announcement released on Monday.Officials say the reshuffle is intended to strengthen political coordination with ethnic resistance forces. Under the revised cabinet structure approved by the CRPH—the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw—detained leaders Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint retain their positions as State Counsellor and President, while Duwa Lashi La remains Acting Vice President and Mahn Win Khaing Than continues as Union Prime Minister.A senior NUG official told Myanmar Now that the shift reflects the government’s need for a stronger political presence inside Myanmar as resistance forces consolidate control across parts of the country.“Dr Zaw Wai Soe is now operating on the ground,” the official said. “The deputy ministers had long been handling most of the health and education work, and he wanted to take on broader responsibilities. This role allows him to do that.”As part of the shake-up, the Prime Minister’s Office has been expanded and Dr Zaw Wai Soe, previously minister for health and education, has been appointed Union Minister overseeing the office. The former senior medical surgeon was exiled in Europe after the 2021 military coup and relocated to Myanmar's northern jungles early this year to be part of the armed resistance campaigns against the junta. The National Unity Government (NUG) is a parallel administration formed by elected lawmakers ousted in the 2021 coup, together with representatives of ethnic groups and the resistance movement. It functions as the main political authority for anti-junta forces and plays a central role in coordinating military, diplomatic and humanitarian efforts across Myanmar’s opposition-controlled territories.The NUG, formed on April 16, 2021 with 10 ministries and later expanded to 17, has now cut its structure back to 12. Other key portfolios—including defence, home affairs and foreign affairs—remain unchanged, with ministers Yee Mon, Lwin Ko Latt and Zin Mar Aung retaining their roles. Several ministries were dissolved in the overhaul. The ministries of international cooperation, transport and communications, labour, and women, youth and children’s affairs were abolished, with the labour portfolio merged into a new Ministry of Social Welfare, Labour and Humanitarian Affairs.Former deputy ministers Dr. Shwe Pon and Ja Htoi Pan have been promoted to lead the health and education ministries, respectively. David Gum Aung, previously a deputy minister in the dissolved Ministry of International Cooperation, will replace U Moe Zaw Oo as deputy foreign minister. Deputy Labour Minister Kyaw Ni has been reassigned to the Home Affairs Ministry, while education deputy minister Sai Khaing Myo Tun will now serve as a deputy foreign minister. “Beyond the reassignment of Dr Zaw Wai Soe and Kyaw Ni, there are no dramatic changes,” the NUG official said. As the armed uprising enters its fifth year, the CRPH said overlapping functions made consolidation necessary—a shift aimed at streamlining governance as the opposition prepares for a prolonged struggle against military rule.

NUG reshuffles cabinet, elevates Zaw Wai Soe to key leadership position

Streamlined structure aims to boost political coordination with ethnic allies as the opposition enters a protracted phase of the anti-junta struggle

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