A headman recently elected by one of the six quarters of Muse, opposite China’s Ruili, has been forced to take a backseat to the one chosen by Rangoon’s local authorities, reports Hawkeye from the border:

Sai Zaw Maung, 54, who was elected as Chairman of the Kawng Nawng Quarter Peace and Development Committee on 10 November, was moved down to the position of Vice Chairman on 29 November on the order of Captain Ye Lin Oo, Chairman of Muse Township Peace and Development Committee. His replacement was Sai Than, 41, elder brother of Sai Htun Aye, owner of the Moonshine Island (Yui Lien Dao) casino on the Mao-Shweli River and protégé of the regional commander Maj-Gen Myint Hlaing. Sai Than himself is an operator of a gambling den in the neighborhood.

His appointment was announced on 1 December when the township officer presided over the World AIDS Day ceremony.

“The election was held in accordance with the order from the authorities,” complained an outraged member of the constituency: “Why did they direct us to hold an election if they were planning to have their own man at the reins?”

Authorities had been reshuffling the headmen of quarters in each town in preparation for the upcoming constitutional referendum and the ensuring general elections, according to a report in September. (Junta paves the way for disciplined democracy, 28 September 2005)