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YANGON: Myanmar's ruling military has carried out a major military reshuffle ahead of rare elections, officials said Friday, dismissing a report that ruler Than Shwe was among those shedding their uniforms.
At least 15 senior leaders, including army number three Thura Shwe Mann, have retired from their military posts to stand in the November 7 poll -- the first held in the country in two decades -- an unnamed official said.
A separate government source denied an earlier report that 77-year-old Than Shwe would be among those stepping down from the army, along with deputy Maung Aye.
"The senior general and vice-senior general remain at their position," the official said.
He said those who had retired from the military will join the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and "will take part in the election".
Thura Shwe Mann is likely to stand as a candidate in one of the constituencies in the capital Naypyidaw.
The reshuffle was not officially announced by the Myanmar media and state television was silent on the subject.
News of the move follows a report on the Irrawaddy website, run by an exile group, that Than Shwe -- who has ruled the impoverished country with an iron fist since 1992 -- retired his army post but would remain head of state.
Meanwhile, a report on the Democratic Voice of Burma website said Than Shwe and Maung Aye were rumoured to be preparing to become the official president and vice president of the USDP.
The conflicting reports come as the country gears up for its first elections since democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) was denied office by the junta after winning a landslide victory in 1990.
Critics and the West have said the upcoming vote, which will guarantee a quarter of the legislature for the army, is a sham aimed at putting a civilian mask on the junta.
Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate whose popularity is a thorn in the junta's side, has been in detention for much of the last twenty years and is barred from standing in the election because she is a serving prisoner.
The NLD -- which would have been the greatest threat to the junta -- is boycotting the upcoming poll, saying the rules are unfair. As a result, it was forcibly disbanded by the ruling generals.
A new democratic party, the National Democracy Force (NDF), was formed by former NLD members who decided to participate in the vote although it does not have the support of Suu Kyi, who favoured a boycott.
So far around 40 political parties have been given permission to stand in the polls, but some have expressed concerns, including over intimidation of their members.
Election hopefuls face a formidable set of hurdles, including a tight timetable for registering candidates as well as restrictions on campaigning.
Prime Minister Thein Sein and other ministers stepped down from the military in April to contest the election as the USDP party, which is unconstrained by the financial and campaigning barriers faced by other parties.
The USDP has merged with the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), a pro-junta group with deep pockets and up to 27 million members, including civil servants compelled to join for the good of their careers.
Myanmar has been the focus of international concern in recent weeks, with Western nations dismissing the planned election as not free and fair, while reports that the country had nuclear weapons ambitions also raised tensions.
- AFP/ir
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