Myanmar military signals leadership change ahead of presidential vote

March 27 (Reuters) – Myanmar’s military leadership is set for a reshuffle following an annual armed forces parade on Friday, state media reported, in a rare public signalling of transition by the secretive institution that has dominated the Southeast Asian nation.

The imminent leadership change comes just days before Myanmar’s newly-convened parliament is due to meet on Monday to start the process to pick a new president, a role the current military chief Min Aung Hlaing has long had his eyes on, Reuters has reported. 

In a meeting on Thursday with retired officers of the Myanmar military, also known as the Tatmadaw, its deputy chief Soe Win said that “leadership changes” would come after the armed forces day ceremony in the capital Naypyitaw, state media reported. 

A political transition is underway in Myanmar following a recent election that was widely derided as a sham and won by an army-backed party, opening the door for Min Aung Hlaing to become president in a system overwhelmingly controlled by the military.  

‘SCRIPTED TRANSITION’

The ostentatious annual parade featured tanks, missiles, cannon fire and flyovers by neon-lit jets and helicopters, with Min Aung Hlaing, adorned in military medals, inspecting troops in an open-top limousine.

He made no mention of the leadership transition in a speech that lasted less than 20 minutes, during which he stressed the military’s vital role, the necessity of its 2021 coup and its continued role in politics “to collaborate in the national interest”. 

“It must be clearly understood this does not signify ‘leading in politics’ as some pessimists might allege,” he said. 

The election came amid a raging civil war, triggered by the 2021 coup that unseated a democratically elected government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, a conflict that has plunged the impoverished country into further turmoil.

It is a highly unusual occurrence for Myanmar’s military – which is locked in fighting with a range of armed groups on multiple frontlines – to preemptively disclose a high-level leadership change, said Htin Kyaw Aye, an independent analyst.

“This is a scripted transition, however, such a disclosure of information suggests that there may be underlying anxieties regarding the leadership transition and the redistribution of high-level positions,” he said.

A career infantry officer, 69-year-old Min Aung Hlaing, who was handpicked by former military ruler Than Shwe to become the commander-in-chief in 2011, has yet to publicly name a successor.

(Reporting by Reuters staff, Writing by Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by Martin Petty)