Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, who led a coup against Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government, has become the country's president after winning a parliamentary vote on Friday.
The presidential vote formalised his grip on political power in the war-torn nation five years after he ousted the Nobel laureate’s elected government in 2021, which plunged the Southeast Asian country into a civil war. The move marks a nominal return to an elected government but is widely considered to be an effort to keep the army in power.
In a live broadcast of the vote count in a parliament dominated by the election-winning Union Solidarity and Development Party and the military's quota of appointed armed forces legislators, the former commander-in-chief comfortably passed the threshold required to win the presidential vote. The military and its allies hold nearly 90 per cent of the seats in the two-chamber parliament.
The vote was held in the newly renovated parliament building in the capital, Naypyitaw, which was damaged in last year's earthquake. Aung Lin Dwe, speaker of parliament's combined upper and lower house, announced that Min Aung Hlaing won 429 out of the 584 votes.
China was the first country to congratulate the military general on becoming the president. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on Friday said both nations were traditional friends and close neighbours, jointly building a community with a shared future.
Ms Mao said China follows a policy of friendship towards all the people of Myanmar.
The transition from top general to civilian president follows a lopsided election in December and January that was won in a landslide by an army-backed party and derided by critics and Western governments as a sham to perpetuate military rule behind a veneer of democracy.
Min Aung Hlaing was almost certain to become president after being nominated alongside two loyalists last week. The 69-year-old general has led the military junta in Myanmar for 15 years and was seen as coveting the presidency.
The general has been sanctioned by several Western nations, including the US, and barred from summits for five consecutive years by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. A court in Argentina last year issued an arrest warrant against him over the Rohingya genocide, while a court in East Timor took up a case alleging war crimes.
After casting his vote inside the heavily-guarded capital of Naypyitaw on 28 December, a smiling Min Aung Hlaing walked up to a gaggle of reporters, where he was asked if he planned to become president following the polls. "I can't simply say that I want to do this or that. I am not a leader of a political party," he said.
On Monday, Min Aung Hlaing stepped down as the chief of Myanmar's armed forces to seek the presidency, while also appointing a staunch loyalist – former spymaster Ye Win Oo – to succeed him as the commander of the military.
"He has long harboured the ambition to trade his title of commander-in-chief for president and it appears his dreams are now becoming a reality," said Aung Kyaw Soe, an independent Myanmar analyst.
Myanmar has been gripped by violence since the military wrested power from the democratically elected government of Suu Kyi, despite her party winning a landslide victory.
The country has since been embroiled in a civil war, which has killed thousands of people and displaced millions. The conflict intensified in 2023 after the Three Brotherhood Alliance launched offensives against the army.
Born to a family from Myanmar's south, Min Aung Hlaing studied law before entering the military and rising steadily through the ranks, culminating in his promotion to military chief in 2011. A rigid military leader and considered a ruthless operator, he has also relied on a finely tuned ability to manage the country’s elites, using tactics that include handing important positions to loyalists and punishing political rivals.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh face food aid cuts
Former Myanmar spymaster to become military chief
Myanmar junta chief who led coup against Aung San Suu Kyi nominated for presidency
Everest guides accused of poisoning foreign climbers to force fake rescues
Bangladesh missed its last measles vaccine drive. Now dozens of children are dying
Nepal to issue historic apology to its Dalits. Will other Asian nations follow?
