NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar: Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing was sworn in as president on Friday, continuing his rule from a civilian post five years after snatching power in a military coup.
As the nation´s armed forces chief, Min Aung Hlaing ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021 -- detaining the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and triggering a civil war.
After a half-decade of ruling by diktat, he organised an election concluding in January excluding her party and securing a walkover win for military allies in civilian politics who backed him into the top office.
“Myanmar has returned to the path of democracy and is heading toward a better future,” the 69-year-old said in a speech, after reading aloud the presidential oath to start his five-year term at a triumphant parliamentary ceremony in the capital, Naypyidaw.
Min Aung Hlaing has resigned as top general to take over as president of the new government ahead of Myanmar´s Thingyan holiday starting on Monday, which celebrates the new year with water-splashing ceremonies of renewal and rejuvenation.
Democracy watchdogs deride the transition as a rebranding of military rule in an unconvincing civilian disguise. More than two-thirds of Min Aung Hlaing´s 30 ministers, also sworn in Friday, are either retired or serving members of the military.
A similar proportion served in the post-coup junta leadership, while more than ten have been subject to international sanctions.
AFP reporters saw bomb squads patrolling Naypyidaw hotels ahead of the ceremony, and parliament was sequestered by rings of checkpoints.
The lead-up to Min Aung Hlaing´s swearing-in has seen some political prisoners from Suu Kyi´s administration pardoned and government workers blacklisted for quitting in protest over the coup invited to return to their jobs.
