Junta cements presidency
Myanmar’s military has elevated General Min Aung Hlaing to the presidency in what critics call a tightly controlled, military‑scripted transition that sidelines opposition parties. Reporters note everyday politics remain fraught—symbols like flower garlands have taken on political meaning—and India’s seismology service recorded a magnitude‑4.0 tremor on Sunday. (prokerala.com) (freepressjournal.in) (nytimes.com) (aninews.in)
Myanmar’s military ruler, Min Aung Hlaing, was sworn in as president on April 10, shifting from junta chief to head of state after a military-run election. (apnews.com) He took office five years after the February 1, 2021 coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government and set off nationwide resistance and civil war. Reuters reported he won the presidency through a parliamentary vote dominated by pro-military lawmakers. (usnews.com) The formal change followed voting held in December 2025 and January 2026. Al Jazeera, citing AFP and Reuters, reported the army-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party won more than 80 percent of contested seats, while the military still held one quarter of parliament’s seats without election. (aljazeera.com) United Nations officials said the ballot was held in only 263 of Myanmar’s 330 townships. They said the National League for Democracy was barred, dozens of other anti-military parties were banned, and many of their leaders remained detained. (news.un.org) The United Nations also said nearly 5.2 million people were displaced as of January 2026 and that 408 military air attacks during the election period killed at least 170 civilians. The military says it is restoring order and returning Myanmar to democracy. (news.un.org) (aljazeera.com) On the ground, politics now reaches into ordinary objects. The New York Times reported on April 13 that flower garlands have become a symbol of resistance in a country where soldiers and civilians read political meaning into what people wear, sell and display in public. (nytimes.com) That symbolism carries extra weight in April, when padauk blossoms appear for Thingyan, the Burmese New Year water festival. Myanmar’s government portal identifies padauk as the national flower. (myanmar.gov.mm) Another reminder of instability came on April 12, when India’s National Center for Seismology listed a magnitude 4.0 earthquake in Myanmar at 04:29:26 Indian Standard Time. The same government site later listed a separate 3.8 Myanmar quake at 10:48:51 Indian Standard Time. (riseq.seismo.gov.in) Min Aung Hlaing said in his inauguration speech that Myanmar had “returned to the path of democracy” and would work to restore ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. For now, the presidency leaves the same general in charge of a country still fighting over who governs it. (aljazeera.com)
