Myanmar’s military chief named acting president

Myanmar’s acting president, Myint Swe, has taken medical leave and transferred his duties to the military chief Min Aung Hlaing, says the country’s army.

The announcement of the new appointment, broadcast on state-run MRTV television, said Min Aung Hlaing received an official letter from the acting president’s office on Monday.

The letter authorised him to carry out the duties of the acting president in order to deal as needed with matters related to the National Defence and Security Council while Myint Swe is on medical leave.

“Acting president duties have been handed over … to the chairman of [the] State Administration Council,” the military government said, using the name with which it refers to itself.

The announcement came about a week before the procedures have to be carried out to renew the state of emergency the military originally declared after it seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.

Myint Swe, 73, had been suffering “psychomotor retardation and malnutrition”, state media reported last week. It said he has been receiving medical treatment since early this year and still cannot carry out normal daily activities, including eating food.

Myint Swe was the vice president under Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government and was later appointed acting president by the military government. Although he is only a figurehead president, the government has depended on him to sign its decrees and provide a veneer of legitimacy to its rule, which is struggling to contain an expanding civil war and manage a crumbling economy.

The National Defence and Security Council, which is formally led by the president, is nominally a constitutional government body, but in practice is controlled by the military.

It plays a key role in renewing the state of emergency every six months, allowing the military broad extra-constitutional powers. Legally, the president, or in Myint Swe’s case the acting president, is the one who must endorse renewals.

The military claims a state of emergency is needed to deal with instability caused by armed opponents of military rule, who are fighting against the army in most parts of the country.

Myint Swe became acting president under controversial circumstances after the 2021 military takeover, when President Win Myint was arrested along with Suu Kyi.

Myint Swe, a member of a pro-military party, took over the presidency because he held the post of first vice president. The move, whose legitimacy was questioned by legal experts, allowed the council to be convened to declare a state of emergency and hand over power to Min Aung Hlaing, who led the army’s takeover.

Min Aung Hlaing currently chairs the ruling military council and the military-installed-government. He declared himself prime minister six months after the takeover.
The government has said it will hold fresh elections in 2025. But critics say the proposed polls will be neither free nor fair.