Myanmar’s military ruler Min Aung Hlaing is poised to become president following a junta-controlled election, extending his rule amid an ongoing civil war
YANGON: Myanmar’s military ruler, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, is poised to become the country’s president. This follows a series of coordinated political moves after a landslide win for pro-military parties in a heavily restricted election.
The 69-year-old was nominated as a vice-presidential candidate in the lower house of parliament. Analysts say his eventual election to the presidency is now inconceivable to defeat.
His official title has been “State Security and Peace Commission Chairman Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General Thadoe Maha Thray Sithu Thadoe Thiri Thudhamma Min Aung Hlaing”. A former spymaster, dubbed his “eyes and ears”, has now replaced him as military chief.
The developments come after Min Aung Hlaing presided over the annual Armed Forces Day parade. The military showcased tanks, rocket launchers, and mini-submarines in its biggest show of force in years.
He stated the incoming government was “legitimately elected by the people”. The military would support it “with the aim of strengthening and sustaining the multi-party democracy system”.
The vote was widely condemned, with criticism made illegal. Parties that won 90% of seats in the 2020 polls, including Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, were dissolved and barred from participating.
A quarter of parliamentary seats are reserved for the armed forces under a constitution drafted during previous military rule. Min Aung Hlaing became military chief in 2011 as Myanmar began a democratic experiment.
He mounted a coup five years ago, jailing Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. This triggered a vicious civil war that continues to rage across the country.
He is persona non grata in many nations for commanding a 2017 crackdown on the Rohingya. That operation drove about 750,000 people into Bangladesh.
He is banned from Facebook for hate speech, heavily sanctioned, and the ICC’s chief prosecutor seeks his arrest for crimes against humanity. He steadfastly denies all allegations of human rights abuses.
There is no official death toll for Myanmar’s civil war. The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project estimates as many as 90,000 have been killed on all sides since the coup.
That number likely includes conscripts the military has begun forcibly recruiting to bolster its depleted ranks. Min Aung Hlaing studied law before entering officer training school on his third attempt.
He is a member of the Dawei ethnic group and spent his early childhood in central Myanmar. His father was head of the arts department at a teacher training college.