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Myanmar leadership change

The military junta that has ruled Myanmar since a February 2021 coup has shifted presidential duties away from 73-year-old Myint Swe, who has been deemed too ill to continue running the country.

On Monday, state broadcaster MRTV announced that General Min Aung Hlaing, the leader of the junta, would essentially become the acting president. He had already declared himself Myanmar’s prime minister in August 2021.

Local media said Myint Swe has been suffering from “psychomotor retardation” and “malnutrition” since 2023 and would be put on medical leave. Formerly vice president under Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government, he was appointed acting president by the junta on 1 February 2021.

“As he cannot do normal daily activities including eating food, close medical treatments are being provided for the Pro Tem President under the arrangement of the State Administration Council,” the state-owned Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported.

The military has been running Myanmar since the 2021 coup, which saw the civilian government of former Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi driven out of power and many of its leaders jailed or placed under house arrest. The junta has faced accusations of human rights abuses, including the killing, targeting, and forced recruitment of civilians, but similar allegations have been made against the armed ethnic groups battling it for control of the country. The most prominent of these armed groups, the Arakan Army, has faced particular accusations of targeting the nation’s Rohingya Muslim population.

The UN says at least 18.6 million people in Myanmar remain in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. The UN’s 2024 humanitarian response programme for the country is currently less than 15% funded.

For the Arakan Army’s response to accusations of abuses towards Rohingya Muslims, read this:

This is a close-up of Tun Myat Naing is the commander-in-chief of the Arakan Army (AA) and also the chairman of its political wing, the United League of Arakan (ULA). He is pictured wearing a military uniform looking to his right side. His elbows or on a table and his hands are clasped.

The Arakan Army responds to Rohingya abuse accusations in Myanmar

The leading armed opposition group dismisses claims it is abusing and targeting the nation’s mostly Muslim Rohingya population.

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