[2] Zaw Htay had served as the director general of the Union Peace Formation under State Counsellor's Office from April 2016 to February 2021.

[4][5][6][7] A graduate of the 37th intake of the Defense Services Academy, Zaw Htay served in the Myanmar Army and went on to join the military regime then known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDP).

After General Soe Win died in 2007, Zaw Htay retired from the military with the rank of major and joined the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA).

He used his Facebook account to spar with NLD supporters and occasionally contributed articles to local media outlets, bolstering the reputation of Thein Sein and the Myanmar military.

[4] In November 2011, writing in The Washington Post, he called on the US and other nations "to help facilitate Myanmar’s connection to the outside world at this critical juncture.