NDSC amends laws to allow appointment of municipal affairs ministers as mayors in Regions and States

The National Defence and Security Council has enacted amendments to existing laws allowing municipal affairs ministers in regions and states to be appointed as mayors.

According to Law No. (11/2026), issued on March 4, the Council amended the Region or State Government Law to include a provision enabling the appointment of a municipal affairs minister, who is a member of a region or state government, as mayor of the respective regional or state capital.

Under the original Section 4, Sub-section (b) of the Region or State Government Law, the number of ministers in each region or state must be set at a minimum of five and a maximum of ten, with the authority to increase or decrease that number as necessary. The law also stipulates that one minister each in Yangon Region and Mandalay Region be assigned duties as mayor.

The newly amended provision retains those arrangements and further adds that a municipal affairs minister from a region or state government may be appointed to serve as mayor of the respective regional or state capital.

At present, mayors have been appointed in Nay Pyi Taw, Yangon and Mandalay.

In a related move, the Council also enacted Law No. (10/2026) on March 4, amending the Nay Pyi Taw Council Law allowing  for the appointment of a Deputy Mayor in Nay Pyi Taw.

The amendment adds a new Sub-section (c) to Section 3, authorizing the appointment of a council member as Vice-Chair of the Nay Pyi Taw Development Committee and as Deputy Mayor.