YANGON - MYANMAR'S military government has quietly begun the largest sell-off of state assets in the country's history, including more than 100 government buildings, port facilities and a large stake in the national airline, said diplomats and businessmen here.
The sell-off, analysts said, appears to be part of a political transition as the government introduces elections for the first time in 20 years and a new Constitution under which the military seems likely to perpetuate its rule, though more from behind the scenes.
Diplomats and businessmen said the sales may allow ruling generals to build up campaign coffers for election to the new parliament, where they will hold 25 per cent of seats, or to pay for salary increases for civil servants and other populist measures.
The ruling junta has not announced the actual date for the polls, which it said would be held this year.
Many of the assets are being sold to businessmen allied with the military. But the privatisations could also have the effect of injecting some competition into what is an almost Soviet-style economic system, and some analysts said they may herald a shift in direction.
Reformers in the government, they added, may be hoping to follow a path similar to that of China or Vietnam, where the economies have been liberalised but the ruling party has remained firmly in charge.
