Min Aung Hlaing receives enough votes to pass the majority threshold and become the country’s president.By AFP and ReutersPublished On 3 Apr 20263 Apr 2026Myanmar’s coup leader has won a parliamentary vote to become the country’s president, formalising his grip on political power in the war-torn nation five years after he ousted an elected government.Senior General Min Aung Hlaing received at least 293 votes of 584 cast by MPs in the country’s pro-military parliament on Friday, passing the majority threshold, according to a continuing tally of the vote count by news agencies.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listThe 69-year-old orchestrated a 2021 coup against the administration of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi and placed her under arrest, prompting widespread protests that morphed into nationwide armed resistance against the military leadership.The transition from top general to civilian president follows a lopsided election in December and January that was won in a landslide by an army-backed party and derided by critics and Western governments as a sham to perpetuate military rule behind a veneer of democracy.The pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party won more than 80 percent of parliamentary seats contested in the election, while serving members of the armed forces occupy unelected seats, making up a quarter of the total.In a live broadcast of Friday’s vote, Min Aung Hlaing passed the threshold required to win, as many had predicted. He was among three candidates nominated for the post earlier this week.Min Aung Hlaing’s ascent to the presidency – a position that analysts say he has long sought – followed a major reshuffle in the leadership of Myanmar’s armed forces, which he had led since 2011. Advertisement On Monday, …
