Min Aung Hlaing led the coup five years ago and is now president. Image: keystone
April 3, 2026, 1:19 p.mApril 3, 2026, 1:19 p.m
Five years after the military seized power in Myanmar, parliament elected then-coup leader Min Aung Hlaing as president. The majority of MPs voted for General Min Aung Hlaing, the South Asian country’s information ministry said. The 69-year-old junta chief resigned as commander-in-chief of the armed forces on Monday to run for president.
Critics see the election as an attempt by Min Aung Hlaing to give himself the appearance of democratic legitimacy. He has led the army since 2011. The military overthrew the democratically elected government of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi at the beginning of 2021.
Since then, the country has been mired in civil war, which is accompanied by economic problems. The junta is cracking down on any resistance with the utmost severity.
Parliamentary elections took place in the country for the first time last December and January of this year. However, human rights activists and political observers described the election as neither free nor fair, in which many opposition parties were not allowed to run and in large parts of the country there were no votes at all due to ongoing fighting. The military-affiliated Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) emerged as the clear winner of the election.
The political system gives the military considerable influence. Under the 2008 constitution, a quarter of parliamentary seats are reserved for the armed forces, giving them a crucial role in determining the state’s leadership. (sda/dpa)