NAYPYIDAW: Myanmar lawmakers will elect a new president on Friday, the parliamentary speaker said, with junta leader Min Aung Hlaing one of three candidates for the post. The former commander-in-chief has led Myanmar since 2021, when he ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and triggered a civil war. He was one of three vice presidents elected by lawmakers on Tuesday, receiving 247 of 260 votes in the lower house. &quot;...the three vice presidents (members of parliament) have to vote to ... elect the one vice president they prefer as the President,&quot; parliamentary speaker Aung Lin Dwe said Thursday, adding the vote will be held at 10:00 a.m on Friday. The other two vice presidents are Nan Ni Ni Aye, a regional MP from Karen state with the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), and current Prime Minister Nyo Saw. 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. The generals loosened their grip for a decade-long democratic experiment beginning in 2011, allowing Aung San Suu Kyi to ascend as civilian leader and steer a period of reform as the nation opened up. But after Aung San Suu Kyi trounced the USDP in a landslide in the 2020 elections, Min Aung Hlaing seized power back. After five years of hardline rule, the top general oversaw heavily restricted elections that returned a walkover win for pro-military parties in January. Now the USDP, led and staffed by many retired officers, is entrenched in parliament after winning 80% of the elected seats, and the new government is expected to march in lockstep with the top brass. Min Aung Hlaing is expected to manage a carefully orchestrated transition to the presidency after handing over the reins of the military to loyalist Ye Win Oo on Monday.

Min Aung Hlaing - (Photo: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)

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Min Aung Hlaing is set to become Myanmar’s president through a military-backed parliamentary vote following contested elections and years of junta rule after the ousting of Aung San Suu Kyi.

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Myanmar parliament to elect new president Friday: Speaker

Myanmar parliament to elect new president Friday: Speaker