Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing elected as president

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NAYPYITAW: Myanmar’s military-controlled parliament elected junta Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing as the country’s new president on Friday.

This appointment formalises his grip on political power five years after he led the 2021 coup that ousted the democratically elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Min Aung Hlaing secured 429 out of 584 votes in a legislature dominated by the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party and appointed armed forces representatives.

To assume the presidency under constitutional requirements, Min Aung Hlaing resigned from his long-held role as Commander-in-Chief earlier this week. He was succeeded in that post by his close ally and former intelligence chief, General Ye Win Oo, ensuring continued military loyalty to the new administration.

The presidency comes at a time of extreme internal crisis, with the military locked in a protracted civil war against a coalition of ethnic armed groups and pro-democracy resistance forces. Despite the change in official title, the international community remains critical, and the shift is not expected to alleviate the country’s deepening economic instability or the ongoing conflict.