Myanmar’s health and information ministers ‘resign’

Myanmar's ministers of information and health have resigned, state media reported yesterday, the latest changes in a cabinet that has been grappling with a host of problems as the country presses on with reforms after decades of military rule.

The New Light of Myanmar newspaper said President Thein Sein had "allowed" Information Minister Aung Kyi and Health Minister Pe Thet Khin to step down "of their own volition".

No reason was given for the resignations but the work of both ministries has been in the spotlight in recent months. Neither man was available for comment.

Several times in the past, ministers reported as having stepped down were later found to have been forced out.

Myanmar's reform has been rapid under President Thein Sein, a former military commander whose changes since 2011 have helped persuade Europe and the United States to roll back crippling sanctions. But problems including ethnic violence and harsh sentences for four journalists under an official secrets act have raised concerns inside Myanmar and abroad.

Presidential spokesman Ye Htut, who is also the deputy minister of information, said the president had exercised his right to accept the resignations but he also hinted that the president wanted the two out of his team.