Myanmar’s military leader Min Aung Hlaing moved closer to taking the country’s civilian presidency on Monday after lawmakers put him forward for a three-candidate runoff that critics say is largely procedural. The 69-year-old general, who led the 2021 coup that removed Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has overseen intensified internal fighting and a severe crackdown on dissent, including new laws that criminalize protest. Those measures helped pro-military parties secure overwhelming victories in January’s parliamentary elections.
Lower house MP Kyaw Kyaw Htay formally nominated Min Aung Hlaing for the vice-presidential post on Monday morning. Parliament will now choose the president in a vote between him and two other nominees, while former intelligence chief Ye Win Oo, a close ally, is expected to take command of the armed forces.
Analysts say the maneuver is designed to give the military continued control a civilian appearance. Observers note that in 2011 the military allowed Aung San Suu Kyi to assume a civilian leadership role after years of house arrest, but following her party’s decisive 2020 victory Min Aung Hlaing is believed to have feared a waning of army influence and orchestrated the coup.
“This political maneuvering signals that Min Aung Hlaing intends to continue ruling the country with an iron fist,” Naing Min Khant of the Institute for Strategy and Policy Myanmar told AFP. “He fundamentally lacks legitimacy but desperately craves the facade of it.”