MYANMAR’S parliament today elected Min Aung Hlaing, a general who ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government in 2021 and kept an iron grip on power for the past five years, as the country’s new president.

Min Aung Hlaing was one of three nominees for the president’s post, but was virtually guaranteed the job as lawmakers from military-backed parties and appointed members from the army hold a commanding majority in parliament.

Aung Lin Dwe, speaker of the combined upper and lower house, announced that General Hlaing won 429 out of 584 votes.

The two runners-up, Nyo Saw and Nan Ni Ni Aye, become vice-presidents. 

They are expected to be inaugurated next week.

But Amnesty International’s Joe Freeman said: “If Min Aung Hlaing thinks that an official civilian title will shield him from prosecution for the many grave violations of international law that he is accused of overseeing as head of the military, that is not how international justice works.”

In 2024, the International Criminal Court in The Hague began an investigation on charges of crimes against humanity after a prosecutor applied for an arrest warrant for the then General Hlaing over the military’s brutal persecution of the Rohingya minority.