Myanmar general looms over poll seen as cementing junta’s power

YANGON, MYANMAR: Myanmar’s top general Min Aung Hlaing was months from retirement five years ago when he made an about-face, deposed the democratic government and promoted himself to leader.

The bespectacled officer became military chief in 2011, just as Myanmar broke with its history of iron-fisted martial rule and began its latest experiment with democracy.

Now 69, he spent a decade jostling with civilian leaders before mounting his coup, jailing Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and triggering a vicious civil war that is still being fought.

He is presiding over a month-long poll due to wrap up on Sunday that he promises will return peace and democracy to tropical Myanmar, despite scepticism at home and abroad.

The main pro-military party is on course for a landslide win, and Min Aung Hlaing has declined to rule out swapping his khaki uniform for the presidency when parliament convenes.

Even if he remains armed forces chief, many in Myanmar will still regard him as the country’s real but unlawful ruler.

Min Aung Hlaing was born in Dawei city in Myanmar’s south, and studied law at university before enrolling in officer training school on his third attempt.

He rose through the ranks, burnishing his credentials by leading a campaign against an ethnic rebel insurrection around crucial trade crossings with China.

His predecessor, Than Shwe, ruled Myanmar for nearly two decades, but it was Min Aung Hlaing’s rare fate to be a top general under civilian command.

A military-drafted constitution still gave him a central role in politics, with a quarter of parliamentary seats and essential cabinet positions reserved for his officers.

Even before the coup, Min Aung Hlaing was persona non grata in many countries for commanding a 2017 military crackdown on the Rohingya ethnic minority that drove about 750,000 people into Bangladesh.

He was banned from Facebook for stoking hate speech, heavily sanctioned, and the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor is seeking his arrest for crimes against humanity.

Min Aung Hlaing has said military operations were justified to root out insurgents and steadfastly denies allegations of human rights abuses. APP