The new streamlined military junta is more likely to spring political surprises than its moribund predecessor, Rangoon-based diplomats said yesterday.
Yet the reshuffled Cabinet remains ill-equipped to deal with a modern world and a spreading economic crisis, they added.
The military's four top generals surprised observers when, on Saturday, they announced the creation of a renamed and trimmed-down junta and a far-reaching Cabinet reshuffle.
Only the Prime Minister, General Than Shwe, now serves in both bodies - which some observers said might be the start of moves to create a civilian Cabinet.
But diplomats in the Burmese capital said there was no evidence of any military withdrawal from the Government.
'The Army has been faced with a major economic disaster yet has appointed only one new civilian to a Cabinet dominated by soldiers,' said one envoy from the region.
