ASEAN Lawmakers Warn World Not to Recognize Min Aung Hlaing’s Bloody Presidency

The ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) on Tuesday condemned the Myanmar regime’s transparent plan to install coup leader Min Aung Hlaing as president, following his resignation as commander-in-chief to run in a rubber-stamp parliamentary election.

The network of regional lawmakers warned that recognition of the junta boss’s presidency would legitimize violent military rule that has “caused immense suffering, deepened social fractures, and undermined democracy and human rights.”

On Tuesday, the regime-installed Lower House selected Min Aung Hlaing and his loyalist junta prime minister, former general Nyo Saw, as vice presidents, thereby confirming their candidature for the presidency.

Min Aung Hlaing is now expected to be installed as president in a vote by the Union Parliament (Pyidaungsu Hluttaw), which is dominated by unelected military representatives and junta-proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) lawmakers.

The APHR statement noted that since the 2021 military coup, the junta has overseen mass killings, arbitrary detention, airstrikes on civilian communities, and the systematic persecution of ethnic and religious minorities, including genocide of the Rohingya people.

It said the junta chief’s ascension to the presidency would formalize the same violent system.

With his loyal ally General Ye Win Oo installed as new commander-in-chief, the military remains tightly aligned with Min Aung Hlaing. This move secures his dominance over both presidency and the armed forces while cementing the continuation of repression and impunity, the APHR warned.

General Ye Win Yoo ran interrogation centers where thousands of anti-coup activists and political prisoners were systematically tortured and many lost their lives.

The APHR also condemned the recent election, dismissing it as a regime-controlled sham to consolidate its power and evade accountability rather than a true reflection of the people’s will.

It warned against a return to “business as usual,” saying the junta had repeatedly used superficial civilian transitions to project an image of reform while continuing repression, prompting premature re-engagement by regional and international actors.

The group called on ASEAN, the UN, and the international community—including current ASEAN chair the Philippines—to take urgent and decisive action by condemning the junta’s consolidation of power, upholding international human rights and humanitarian law, and supporting the democratic forces of Myanmar.