Lawmakers in Myanmar on Friday elected former junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing as president after a parliamentary vote.
The move follows elections in December and January that were widely condemned by the United Nations and Western governments as a sham intended to legitimize continued military rule.
Min Aung Hlaing stepped down as commander-in-chief earlier this week to run in the vote and secured the required majority in parliament. He won 429 out of 584 votes. The military-aligned Union Solidarity and Development Party captured more than 80% of seats.
The 69-year-old has been Myanmar’s de facto leader since the 2021 coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, who was later sentenced to 27 years in prison in proceedings criticized by rights groups. Min Aung Hlaing handed command of the armed forces to Ye Win Oo, a close ally described as the military chief’s “eyes and ears,” before the vote.
Myanmar remains gripped by civil war since the coup, with nearly 93,000 people killed and more than 3.6 million displaced. Analysts say the transition represents a technical shift from military to formal presidential rule rather than a substantive change in who holds power.
Min Aung Hlaing, from the Dawei ethnic group, studied law before entering officer training school on his third attempt and building a long military career. He rose through the ranks and gained prominence during operations against ethnic insurgents.
He has been widely condemned internationally for his role in the 2017 military crackdown on the Rohingya minority, which forced about 750,000 people to flee to Bangladesh. In 2021 he led the coup that toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s government and sparked the ongoing nationwide conflict.
Edited by: Karl Sexton