For sale: One large Yangon mansion covering nearly 2 acres. Slightly shot-up entrance. New owners will help evict the dictator squatting inside.
In a cheeky move, Myanmar’s civilian government in exile announced yesterday that it was selling the residence of coup leader Min Aung Hlaing for US$10 million to help fund its campaign to remove him from power.
A statement signed yesterday by the National Unity Government’s Ministry of Planning, Finance and Investment’s Minister Tin Tun Naing said they would sell the land and No. 14 building on Inya Road illegally occupied by the senior general, which is valued at over US$30 million.
“We will soon start selling properties illegally taken by military leaders and land that is not needed for the future federal army confiscated by the terrorist junta,” Minister Tin Tun Naing said recently.
Priced at one-third the stated value, ownership of the property will be divided into 100,000 shares valued at US$100 each. People around the world can buy shares via a list of authorized agents to be announced soon.
Buyers will receive shares that can be redeemed when the assets are auctioned off by the National Unity Government, at a theoretical point in the future after it has ousted the military from power.
“The proceeds from the sale will be used effectively for the revolution,” Tin Tun Naing said.
The sale is going forward under laws passed by the government in exile permitting the confiscation of property that had been seized by the military, which staged the 2021 coup.
The plan, expected to begin in a few weeks, over 40% of what had been public property before it was seized by military leaders will be sold for repatriation to Myanmar nationals and foreigners at prices 70% below market value, according to Voice of Asia.
The plan to reclaim assets controlled by the junta and sell them to the public was widely supported as an innovative way to intimidate the generals and raise funds for the revolution. Many netizens expressed interest in buying the shares and benefiting from the goal of overthrowing the junta.
The military leaders have enriched themselves from choice Yangon real estate. Min Aung Hlaing alone has acquired two million-dollar houses and plots of land near Inya Lake, a private and affluent part of town.
The junta leader did not own a home near Inya Lake until 2011 when he was appointed successor to former dictator Than Shwe. Five years later, he moved to 14 Inya Road, then acquired a plot of land near the five-star Lotte Hotel and Kanthaya Private Hospital for his business interests.
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