Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing elected president by pro-military parliament | UNW

“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.

It was not clear if Min Aung Hlaing attended the vote and he was not seen during a broadcast of the proceedings on state television.

China, a longtime ally of Myanmar’s generals, extended its congratulations and said it would support the new government in maintaining peace and stability.

CIVIL WAR RAGES ON 

The civil war that has wrecked Myanmar and its economy for much of the last five years is still raging, with the military under Min Aung Hlaing’s command accused by human rights groups and United Nations experts of atrocities against the civilian population, which the junta has denied.

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in 2024 sought an arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing over the alleged persecution of the minority Muslim Rohingya, after more than a million fled to neighbouring Bangladesh to escape a military crackdown in 2017.

“He may exchange his military fatigues for civilian attire, but this changes nothing with respect to his suspected responsibility for serious crimes under international law,” Amnesty International said.

“For the many Myanmar people who have been victims of Min Aung Hlaing’s violently unfettered military … seeing their oppressor formally elevated instead of prosecuted will be deeply painful.”

Some anti-junta groups, including those comprising remnants of Aung San Suu Kyi’s party and longstanding ethnic minority armies, this week formed a new combined front to take on the military.

The Steering Council for the Emergence of a Federal Democratic Union said its objectives were to “completely dismantle all forms of dictatorship” and initiate “a new political landscape”.

But resistance groups could face intensified military pressure, economic challenges and increased scrutiny from neighbouring countries that may seek to bolster their relationship with Min Aung Hlaing’s new administration, some analysts say.

“It may become even harder to build mutual understanding and trust between groups, reach firmer agreements, and sustain cooperation,” analyst Sai Kyi Zin Soe said of the opposition.