junta chief Min Aung Hlaing was elected a vice-president by the lower house, parliament officials said, with the coup leader edging closer to becoming the country’s civilian leader.
Myanmar’s former commander in chief Min Aung Hlaing has led Myanmar since 2021, when he ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and triggered a civil war.
His election sets in motion a process for him to exchange his uniform for civilian clothes, as the country’s parliament selects three vice-presidents, one of whom is then chosen as president.
On the lower house floor yesterday morning, MPs queued up at a row of tables and dropped their ballots into one of three clear-sided boxes.
“The lower house of elected MPs announces Senior General Hlaing as a vice-president,” lower house Speaker Khin Yi said after the vote.
The junta chief received 247 of the 260 votes, a parliament official said, according to a live broadcast.
The upper house elected Nan Ni Ni Aye, a regional MP from Karen state with the military-aligned Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), as another vice-president, local media reported.
A third vice-president will be chosen by the military.
A parliament-wide vote to select which of the three will be elevated to president is expected this week.
Hlaing is expected to manage a carefully orchestrated transition to becoming president, after he handed over the reins of the military to loyalist Ye Win Oo on Monday. — AFP
