Myanmar military Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing sits during a ceremony to mark the one-year anniversary of the earthquake at the Myanmar International Convention Center in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, on March 28. Min Aung Hlaing won a parliamentary vote Friday to become the country’s president, five years after he ousted the elected government. Photo by Nyein Chan Naing/EPA
April 3 (UPI) — The leader of Myanmar’s military junta, Min Aung Hlaing, was elected president of the country Friday by the country’s parliament.
Min Aung Hlaing, 69, stepped down as the country’s commander in chief earlier this week. In that position, he oversaw the killing of thousands of civilians, a coup that overthrew democratically elected leaders and genocide of Rohingya people.
The election is the first since the 2021 military coup and is seen as an attempt to legitimize the military leaders by giving them civilian titles.
The new government isn’t expected to make many changes.
The Special Advisory Council for Myanmar, a pro-democracy organization, said the generals were ditching their uniforms but without any change to the power structure. They called it a cynical “rebrand” designed to deceive the world into believing they were seeing a transition to civilian rule.
“A confected title and a costume change won’t fool anyone,” Yanghee Lee said.
Yanghee Lee, a former U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar, said it was a “puppet government” and called on governments around the world not to recognize it.
“His ascension to the presidency would formalize the same violent system that has already caused immense suffering, deepened social fractures and undermined democracy and human rights,” said the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights, a group of regional lawmakers, in a statement.
Min Aung Hlaing was elected the country’s 11th president by a vote of 584-155. The two other candidates on the ballot — U Nyo Saw and Nan Ni Ni Aye — were elected first and second vice presidents, respectively.
Min Aung Hlaing appointed a loyal subordinate earlier this week to commander in chief, former intelligence chief Gen. Ye Win Oo.