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Myanmar junta main Min Aung Hlaing was elected a Vice-President (V-P) by the little location connected Tuesday (March 31, 2026), parliament officials said, with the coup person edging person to becoming the country’s civilian leader.
Myanmar’s erstwhile commandant successful main Min Aung Hlaing has led Myanmar since 2021, erstwhile helium ousted the elected authorities of Aung San Suu Kyi and triggered civilian war.
His predetermination sets successful question a process for him to speech his azygous for civilian clothes, arsenic the country’s parliament selects 3 V-Ps, 1 of whom is past chosen arsenic president.
On the little location level Tuesday greeting (March 31), MPs queued up astatine a enactment of tables and dropped their ballots into 1 of 3 clear-sided boxes.
“The little location of elected MPs announces Senior General Min Aung Hlaing arsenic a vice-president,” little location talker Khin Yi said aft the vote.
The junta main received 247 of the 260 votes, a parliament authoritative said, according to a unrecorded broadcast.
The precocious location elected Nan Ni Ni Aye, a determination MP from Karen State with the military-aligned Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), arsenic different V-P, section media reported.
A 3rd V-P volition beryllium chosen by the military.
A parliament-wide ballot to prime which of the 3 volition beryllium elevated to president is expected this week.
Democracy watchdogs person agelong warned that the caller authorities volition beryllium a proxy of the military, which has ruled Myanmar for the immense bulk of its post-independence history.
Myanmar’s subject has agelong presented itself arsenic the lone unit guarding the restive state from rupture and ruin.
The generals loosened their grip for a decade-long antiauthoritarian experimentation opening successful 2011, allowing Aung San Suu Kyi to ascend arsenic civilian person and steer a play of betterment arsenic the federation opened up.
But aft Aung San Suu Kyi trounced the USDP successful a landslide successful 2020 elections, Min Aung Hlaing snatched backmost powerfulness arsenic helium grew anxious astir the military’s waning influence, analysts say.
After 5 years of hardline rule, the apical wide oversaw heavy restricted elections that returned a walkover triumph for pro-military parties successful January.
Now the USDP – led and staffed by galore retired officers – is entrenched successful parliament aft winning 80% of elected seats, and it is expected the caller authorities volition march successful lockstep with the apical brass.
Min Aung Hlaing is expected to negociate a cautiously orchestrated modulation to becoming president, aft helium handed implicit the reins of the subject to loyalist Ye Win Oo connected Monday (March 30).
