Myanmar’s outlawed National Unity Government (NUG) says it is working to pay the salaries of Public Servants taking part in the civil disobedience movement against the military junta.
The NUG’s Minister for Planning, Finance, and Investment, Tin Tun Naing said the money would come from donations made by the people of Myanmar who opposed military rule following the coup against the democratically-elected Government in February.
“We are drafting a budget that will include the salaries of Civil Servants participating in civil disobedience,” Tin Tun Naing said.
“Our NUG will give them their full salaries; it is included in our budget estimation,” he said.
The NUG was formed in April by the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), which consists of elected lawmakers who were unable to take their seats after the military seized power.
Pyidaungsu Hluttaw is the Burmese name for the Parliament closed down by the junta.
Tin Tun Naing said the parallel Government would also seek access to State-owned assets frozen by the United States soon after the military ousted Myanmar’s elected civilian Government.
US officials have frozen about $US1 billion ($A1.3 billion) held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York after military rulers attempted to move the funds shortly after the coup.
Tin Tun Naing said that if the NUG gained access to the money, it would be used to assist Myanmar people whose lives had been devastated by the military takeover.
Regarding payment of Public Service salaries, he said details would need to be worked out before transfers could begin.
“It will not be like a monthly transfer. 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 Public Servants had gone on strike since the coup, representing half of all public employees; however, this figure couldn’t be verified independently.
The junta has been using various means to pressure striking Public Servants to return to work, including threats of dismissal, arrests, and forced eviction from Government housing.
The CRPH announced in late February that Public Servants were not obliged to follow the regime’s orders.
It also said fired employees would be given back their jobs when the elected Government assumed power.
Naypyidaw, 25 May 2021
