NAYPYIDAW: Myanmar's junta signalled changes in the military's leadership ahead of the country's annual show of force on Friday (March 27), potentially clearing the way for defence chief Min Aung Hlaing (pic) to become president.
Thousands of soldiers will march for Armed Forces Day at a parade ground in the capital Naypyidaw, where Min Aung Hlaing will make his yearly speech to rally morale.
He has ruled by diktat since ousting the hugely popular government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021 -- detaining the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, dissolving her party and triggering civil war.
There will be "leadership changes" in the armed forces after the ceremony, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper quoted Min Aung Hlaing's deputy Soe Win as saying at an official dinner on Thursday.
Lawmakers are set to begin the process of selecting a president next week following a walkover victory by pro-military parties earlier this year in elections overseen by the junta.
Democracy monitors said the elections were stage-managed to shut out opposition.
Under the constitution, Min Aung Hlaing would have to step down from his military post to become president, and Soe Win's comments reinforce expectations that he will do so.
He is already acting president, but taking the role on a permanent basis would bolster critics who say the transition to a new government is effectively the military transferring power to itself in a civilian disguise.
"Irrespective of who leads," the armed forces "will continue to follow the guidance of successive leaders, advisors and mentors," the newspaper cited Soe Win as saying in indirect speech.
Myanmar's military mythologises itself as the only force protecting the restive nation from disintegration.
The newspaper devoted its front page to the military pageant, with an image of missile launchers before three huge statues of ancient kings that dominate the parade ground.
But the Armed Forces Day events have progressively shrunk since 2021, as the military's ranks have been sapped by the civil war against anti-coup guerrillas and long-active ethnic minority rebel factions.
Over the past year, though, there have been signs the junta is back on the front foot -- with a string of moderate victories thanks largely to China-backed truces with ethnic rebels along their shared border.
A Beijing-brokered deal saw the northern city of Lashio returned to the military last spring, after it and its regional command base were captured by the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army in a major humiliation.
Another China-sealed ceasefire in October saw the Ta'ang National Liberation Army pull back from central Mandalay region, where it had seized the lucrative ruby mining hub of Mogok.
Both factions previously fought alongside each other and others in an offensive starting in late 2023 that represented the biggest threat to the junta since the coup.
Analysts say neighbouring China's recent interventions to rein in rebels are a sign Beijing is backing the military establishment to provide some semblance of stability.
While the truces have proven instrumental to the past year of the conflict, violence remains endemic.
Last year witnessed the largest number of military air and drone strikes since the coup, according to monitoring group ACLED, which tallies media reports of violence.
With various armed groups embroiled in the civil war, the conflict is highly compartmentalised and there are regions where the embattled military is surrounded and making its last stand.
While there is no official toll for the conflict, ACLED estimates more than 90,000 people have been killed on all sides.
More than 3.7 million people are displaced, the United Nations has said, while about half the country lives in poverty. - AFP
