Myanmar Coup Leader Ultimately Becomes President

Parliament Elects Former Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing as President

The Myanmar parliament has elected Min Aung Hlaing (age 69), former Commander-in-Chief, as the next president. After toppling Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government in the 2021 coup and seizing power for the past five years, the head of the military regime has now assumed control as the nominally elected leader of the government.

According to Yonhap News Agency, citing Myanmar's bicameral parliament on April 3, Min Aung Hlaing was chosen as president through a full parliamentary vote from among three candidates. He secured more than 300 out of a total of 584 votes, surpassing the majority threshold required for election.

Min Aung Hlaing, former Commander-in-Chief, elected as President of Myanmar. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

The other two candidates—Nan Ni Ni Aye, a lawmaker from the Karen State constituency affiliated with the military-aligned Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), and Prime Minister Nyo Saw—were elected as vice presidents.

The Myanmar military claimed that the 2020 general election, in which Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory, was fraudulent. In February of the following year, the military overthrew the government.

Subsequently, in December last year, nearly four years and ten months after the coup, Myanmar held elections to transfer power back to civilian rule. The military-aligned USDP won 80% of the elected seats in a landslide victory. With the USDP essentially securing the ability to choose the next president, Min Aung Hlaing's election was widely anticipated.

Families of prisoners are seen holding placards with the names of inmates about to be released, waiting in front of Insein Prison in Yangon, Myanmar. The Myanmar military pardoned over 6,000 prisoners on the 4th in celebration of Independence Day. Photo by EPA Yonhap News

Going forward, he is expected to continue exerting power by maintaining control over the military through his close ally and successor Commander-in-Chief Ye Win Oo, all while presenting himself as a civilian leader.

Analysts view this transfer of military power and the emergence of a new president as a strategic shift. By occupying the position of nominal civilian head of government, Min Aung Hlaing seeks to consolidate his authority and gain international legitimacy, all while ensuring the military's interests remain protected—having ruled directly for 50 of the past 60 years.

Previously, the pro-democracy camp had stated it could not recognize an election orchestrated by the military regime. They argued that the military's election was a ploy to justify and prolong military rule.

According to a report by the human rights organization Amnesty International, the military has killed more than 6,000 civilians and arbitrarily detained over 20,000 people since the coup. Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to 27 years in prison on charges including corruption.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.