Myanmar's parliament on Friday elected General Min Aung Hlaing as the country's president, under whose leadership the civilian leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was ousted in a military coup in 2021, LETA reports citing AP.
Min Aung Hlaing was one of three candidates for the presidency, but his election was virtually guaranteed as military party members and army appointees hold a convincing majority in parliament.
The voting took place in the renovated parliament building in Naypyidaw, which was damaged by an earthquake last year.
Speaker of the combined upper and lower houses of parliament, Aung Lin Dwe, reported that Min Aung Hlaing received 429 out of 584 votes.
The other two candidates — former general and advisor to Min Aung Hlaing, Nyi So, and representative of the ethnic Karen community, Nana Ni Ni Aye, from the army-supporting Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) — will serve as vice presidents.
The inauguration of the newly elected leadership is expected next week.
Although Myanmar is formally returning to an elected government, this is widely seen as an attempt to maintain military power after elections organized by the military, which opponents and independent observers did not recognize as free or fair.
The transition to an elected government is also viewed as a way to improve strained relations with Asian neighbors following the military coup. China and Russia supported the military administration, while Western countries imposed sanctions.
The 69-year-old Min Aung Hlaing has led the army since 2011. He previously stepped down from the position of commander-in-chief, as Myanmar's constitution prohibits the president from holding a high military position simultaneously.
Parliamentary elections were held in three stages in December and January. Major opposition parties were banned from participating, or they voluntarily withdrew.
The military junta ruled Myanmar from 1962 to 2016, when the party of Aung San Suu Kyi came to power, winning an even more convincing mandate in the 2020 elections, but in 2021, before the new parliament convened, the military seized power again.
In 2024, the International Criminal Court in The Hague began an investigation into crimes against humanity after the prosecutor filed a request for an arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing in connection with the persecution of the Rohingya Muslim minority.
The 80-year-old Aung San Suu Kyi is serving a 27-year prison sentence on charges that are widely considered politically motivated.
