Myanmar junta chief elected vice-president: parliament

NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar: Myanmar’s junta chief Min Aung Hlaing was elected a vice-president by the lower house on Tuesday, parliament officials said, with the coup leader edging closer to becoming president and maintaining his rule.

“The lower house of elected MPs announces Senior General Min Aung Hlaing as a vice-president,” lower house speaker Khin Yi said.

According to a live broadcast, he received 247 of 260 votes.

Three vice-presidents are expected to be chosen this week, one of whom will be elected president in a parliament-wide vote.

Min Aung Hlaing has ruled Myanmar since 2021, when he directed a coup that toppled the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and triggered civil war.

After five years of hardline rule, he oversaw heavily restricted elections that criminalised protest or criticism of the vote and returned a walkover win for pro-military parties in late January.

Democracy watchdogs have long warned that the new government will be a proxy of the military, which has ruled Myanmar for the vast majority of its post-independence history.

Analysts expect Min Aung Hlaing to become president this week, after he stepped down as commander-in-chief of the armed forces and was nominated for vice-president by the lower house on Monday.