THE emergence of Sein Lwin as a force in Burmese politics coincided with General Ne Win’s bloodless coup in 1962, when the former Commander-in-Chief and caretaker Prime Minister abrogated the Constitution and placed members of U Nu’s faltering Government under house arrest. This turning point proved to be the beginning of Ne Win’s descent from a position of popular strong man, with the interests of the people at heart, to that of hated dictator. As his programme “The Burmese Way to Socialism” brought economic failure and social restrictions, it was to Sein Lwin that he turned to put down the inevitable unrest in Rangoon.

Earlier, when Ne Win had briefly combined the posts of Commander-in-Chief, Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister (to U Nu) in 1949-50, the principal threat to stability in Burma came from the Karen rebels. Their army seized the areas of the inhabited countryside not under control of either communist insurgents or army mutineers and threatened the capital. As the Karens were the best led, armed and trained of his opponents, Ne Win gave priority to defeating them. Sein Lwin, then a 27-year-old battalion commander, played a significant part in the campaign that Ne Win skilfully conducted. Government forces captured the Karen stronghold of Toungoo on March 19, 1950, and Sein Lwin was given the task of hunting down the Karen leader, Saw Ba U Gyi, who had avoided capture. He was killed in an ambush five months later.

In contrast to his earlier period as caretaker Prime Minister in 1958-59 — when he had scrupulously kept the army out of politics — after his coup of 1962 Ne Win appointed senior Service officers to the majority of government portfolios. Sein Lwin, by then a brigadier-general, initially remained in uniform and was responsible for the ill-judged and violent suppression of a protest against Ne Win’s rule by the students of Rangoon University on July 7, 1962. This incident resulted in an apparently large number of students being shot dead and was as senseless as it was unnecessary. From its formation under British rule, Rangoon University had acted as a useful safety valve for both student and public opinion on any issue of the moment. Some were quite trivial; it had been known for students to stage a walk-out on a pretext simply to postpone their examinations. No substantial hardships had by then been imposed by Ne Win’s new regime and the students’ protest was — quite legitimately by previous criteria — simply one against the suspension of democracy, something the Burmese hold dear even if they have not always used it to best advantage when available to them.

Sein Lwin either completely misjudged the security situation or panicked and ordered his troops to open fire on the students. The reaction of the Rangoon population, and of the outside world as soon as the news broke, was of horror and dismay. The previous image of Ne Win as a still well-thought-of strong man in a crisis was shattered and his regime irrevocably tarnished. Only the immediate dismissal and public trial of Sein Lwin, together with apologies and compensation for the killed and injured students’ families might have saved the day, but neither was forthcoming.

As is so often the case, once the rule of law and legitimate military action were abandoned, the imposition of order by ruthless repression become the norm. Sein Lwin was again in charge when there were workers’ protest in Rangoon in 1972, and demonstrations by Rangoon students and Buddhist monks against the Ne Win regime on the occasion of the State funeral for U Thant, the former UN Secretary-General, in 1974. Both protests were ruthlessly and bloodily suppressed.

Subsequently, Sein Lwin retired from the army and served in various posts in Ne Win’s administration, including transport minister, home minister and minister for religious affairs. After Ne Win’s hapless mismanagement of the economy erupted onto the streets of most Burmese cities in 1988, forcing the dictator to step down, Sein Lwin became chairman of the ruling “Burmese Way To Socialism” party and the country’s President in the period before the multi-party elections Ne Win had promised.

When peaceful political gatherings in the run-up to the elections were dispersed either by troops or hired gangs, public outrage forced Sein Lwin to resign the presidency little more than two weeks after he had accepted it. Then, Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy having won 80 per cent of the seats contested in the elections, the interim administration first sought to procrastinate in the handing over of power, then imposed direct rule under the State Law and Order Restoration Council. In September 1988, the post of president was abolished and the Council junta continued to run the country.

Little is known of Sein Lwin’s origins or early life. Although apparently not one of the “Thirty Comrades” who went to China for military training under the Japanese in early 1941, he served in 4th Battalion Burma Rifles, the unit commanded by Ne Win at the time of Burma’s independence. This battalion later remained loyal to the Government when other army units rebelled or deserted, which no doubt cemented his relationship with Ne Win.

After stepping down as President in 1988, Sein Lwin took no further part in public life, although he remained close to Ne Win until the latter’s death in December 2002.

He is survived by his wife and seven children.

Brigadier-General Sein Lwin, briefly President of Burma (Myanmar), died on April 9, 2004, aged 81.