Myanmar’s parliament on Friday elected Min Aung Hlaing, a general who ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government in 2021 and kept an iron grip on power for the past five years, as the country’s new president.
The move marks a nominal return to an elected government but is widely considered to be an effort to keep the army in power after an election organized by the military that opponents and independent observers deemed neither free nor fair.
Min Aung Hlaing was one of three nominees for the president’s post, but was virtually guaranteed the job as lawmakers from military-backed parties and appointed members from the army hold a commanding majority in parliament.
