Myanmar’s interim civilian government is working to pay the salaries of civil servants taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) against military rule, according to the newly formed cabinet’s finance minister.
The National Unity Government (NUG) is drafting a budget that will include the salaries of civil servants participating in the CDM, the minister for planning, finance, and investment, Tin Tun Naing, told Myanmar Now on Monday.
“Our NUG will give them their full salaries. It is included in our budget estimation,” he said, adding that the cabinet has been compiling a list of civil servants who are on strike.
The NUG was formed earlier this month by the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), which consists of elected lawmakers who were unable to take their seats after the military seized power on February 1.
According to Tin Tun Naing, the salaries will be paid from funds donated to the CRPH by the people of Myanmar.
He added that the parallel government will also seek access to state-owned assets frozen by the United States soon after the military ousted Myanmar’s elected civilian government.
On March 5, Reuters reported that US officials put a freeze on about $1 billion held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York by the Central Bank Myanmar after military rulers attempted to move the funds days after the coup.
Tin Tun Naing said that if the NUG gains access to the money, it will be used to assist Myanmar people whose lives have been devastated by the military takeover.
Regarding payment of salaries, he said that details would need to be worked out before transfers can begin.
“It will not be like a monthly transfer at the end of every month. If we can only transfer every three months, we may combine and send three months’ salary at a time,” he said.
Tin Tun Naing said that more than 200,000 civil servants have gone on strike since the coup, representing half of all public employees in the country.
Myanmar Now was unable to verify these figures independently.
The junta has been using various means to pressure striking workers to return to work, including threats of dismissal, arrests, and forced eviction from government housing.
The CRPH announced in late February that civil servants are not obliged to follow the coup regime’s orders. It also stated that fired employees would be given back their jobs when the elected government assumes power.
