NAYPYIDAW, April 3 — Myanmar’s parliament elected junta chief Min Aung Hlaing as president today, an AFP tally showed, with the ex-military commander set to maintain his rule in a civilian guise after snatching power by force five years ago.
The coup-leading general received at least 293 votes of 584 cast by MPs, passing the majority threshold, according to a tally of the ongoing vote count by AFP journalists.
Min Aung Hlaing—who swept aside democracy in 2021, detaining elected figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi and dissolving her party—was anointed by pro-military MPs installed in a poll overseen by the junta he leads.
While the junta touted parliament’s reopening last month as a return of power to the people, analysts describe it as civilian window-dressing intended to launder the military’s continuing rule.
The pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party won more than 80 percent of parliamentary seats contested in the election which concluded in late January, while serving members of the armed forces occupy unelected seats making up a quarter of the total.
Criticism or protest over the election was outlawed, and voting was blocked in territories controlled by rebels which have risen up to challenge the military takeover in a grinding civil war.
It has killed tens of thousands on all sides since the February 2021 coup. — AFP
