Myanmar's Coup Leader Steps into Presidential Role Amid Ongoing Turmoil

Fri Apr 03 2026 22:36:27 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

General Min Aung Hlaing, leader of Myanmar's military coup, is poised to assume the presidency as the country grapples with civil war and humanitarian crises. His rule, backed by a politically compromised parliament, raises questions about the future of democracy in Myanmar.

General Min Aung Hlaing, having promised a return to civilian rule after launching a coup five years ago, is set to become Myanmar's next president. This move comes as the nation remains trapped in a brutal civil war, characterized by mass protests, armed resistance, and widespread displacement. Despite Hlaing's transition to a presidential role, analysts and activists predict a continuation of military dominance and suffering for the Myanmar people.

Just seven days after he made the fateful decision to launch his coup against the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on 1 February 2021, General Min Aung Hlaing made a promise; to hold elections, and return to civilian rule, within a year.

It has taken him five years to fulfil that promise. Today, the newly-elected parliament will choose him to be the next president. Min Aung Hlaing has already stepped down as armed forces commander, as required by the constitution before he can take the post of president. But this is civilian rule in name only.

The parliament, sitting for the first time since the coup, is filled with his loyalists. With the armed forces guaranteed one quarter of the seats, and the military's own party, the USDP, winning nearly 80% of the remaining seats in an election which was tilted heavily in its favour, this was a preordained outcome. More of a coronation than an election.

Military men are also likely to dominate the new government when it is formed. Min Aung Hlaing has ensured that a staunch ally, General Ye Win Oo, a hardliner with a reputation for brutality, replaces him at the head of the armed forces. He has also created a new consultative council, which will exercise paramount authority over civilian and military affairs. He is ensuring that in taking off his uniform, he does not dilute his power.

For young activists like Kyaw Win – not his real name – all hope of change has gone. As a student, he was arrested for taking part in a flash mob protest against the coup in 2022 and tortured for a week, before being jailed. He was only recently released. They beat me on my back with an iron rod. They burned me with cigarettes and slashed my thigh with a knife. Then they stripped my underwear and sexually assaulted me. They interrogated me, but it was never clear what they wanted me to say. Kyaw Win says his commitment to the revolution, as the activists call it, is unchanged, but he feels unable to do much now from inside Myanmar. He is planning to seek work outside the country.

The five years since Min Aung Hlaing's coup have been a catastrophe for Myanmar. His decision to use lethal force against the mass protests which broke out across the country ignited a civil war which has killed thousands, displaced millions, and ruined the economy.

This is a long-standing military tactic in Myanmar, known as the four cuts intended to devastate communities that support insurgent groups. With Chinese and Russian help, the junta has now recaptured some of the ground lost over the past two years.

The military regime has ceded control of huge areas of the country to the armed resistance. It has responded by unleashing its air power on opposition-controlled villages with indiscriminate attacks that have destroyed schools, homes, and hospitals.

So, as he presided for the last time over the spectacular parade the Myanmar armed forces hold every year in the capital Nay Pyi Taw, we listened carefully for any hint in his speech of reflection or regret over the damage his coup has caused. There was none.

Instead, we were treated to the same unapologetic justifications for military intervention we have heard so many times before. The soldiers had a constitutional mandate for constructive engagement in national politics, he said. Those opposing military rule were armed terrorist factions, supported by foreign aggressors and self-serving political opportunists. Nothing in the speech suggested that Min Aung Hlaing in civilian clothes was going to rule Myanmar any differently than when he was in uniform.

Min Aung Hlaing's coup has dealt a staggering blow to the economy. The UN estimates that more than 16 million people are now in need of life-saving assistance. The number of those displaced by the war is approaching four million. Runaway inflation has collapsed living standards. This is now compounded by fuel shortages caused by the war in the Middle East.

Into this cheerless stalemate, veteran political activist Mya Aye has brought a rare voice of reason and restraint, arguing that the only way out of the crisis is to find a compromise between the military and its many opponents. He argues that if the jailed democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is released, she could play a decisive role, even at the age of 80, in finding an acceptable compromise.

There is talk of her being freed some time this year by Min Aung Hlaing, now that he has finally fulfilled the ambition to be president which played a big part in his decision to launch the coup. But if there is a path to peace in Myanmar, it is certainly a very narrow one, and for now, it is not a path the country's military rulers seem inclined to follow.