Myanmar's Min Aung Hlaing Sworn In as President

Myanmar’s coup leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, was sworn in as the country’s new president on Friday, five years after he ousted an elected government and triggered a civil war. In his inauguration address in the capital Naypyidaw, he acknowledged that Myanmar still has many challenges to overcome but claimed the country is returning to democracy.

Min Aung Hlaing was voted into office last week by a pro-military parliament, formalizing his grip on power. The 69-year-old general seized power in 2021 from Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, placing her under arrest and causing widespread violence and protests that sent Myanmar into chaos.

The coup prompted a mass civil disobedience movement and the formation of anti-coup armed groups, to which the military responded with brutal force. Myanmar was subsequently suspended from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). In his address, Min Aung Hlaing pledged to restore normal relations with ASEAN.

Friday’s inauguration ceremony was attended by representatives from neighboring nations such as China, India, and Thailand, as well as 20 other countries. However, the election has been decried as a farce by democracy watchdogs. Min Aung Hlaing's pledge to grant amnesties and pardon political prisoners has been dismissed as cosmetic.

The civil war that has racked Myanmar for much of the last five years continues, with anti-military groups forming a new combined front to take on the military. The human cost is staggering, with estimates suggesting more than 96,000 people have been killed and at least 3.6 million displaced since the coup in 2021.