MYANMAR — Myanmar’s military leadership faces an imminent reshuffle after Friday’s Armed Forces Day parade, state media reported, in a rare disclosure from the secretive Tatmadaw amid preparations for a new parliament to select a president, likely current chief Min Aung Hlaing.
Deputy chief Soe Win announced “leadership changes” post-ceremony during a Thursday meeting with retirees, just days before Monday’s session. The shift follows a widely condemned election won by an army-backed party, cementing military dominance after the 2021 coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s government and sparked civil war.
The lavish Naypyitaw parade showcased tanks, missiles, and flyovers, with a medaled Min Aung Hlaing inspecting troops from an open limousine. His brief speech defended the coup and military’s political role “in the national interest,” denying it equates to dominance.
Independent analyst Htin Kyaw Aye called the preemptive reveal unusual amid frontline battles, suggesting “underlying anxieties” in this “scripted transition.” The 69-year-old commander-in-chief, appointed in 2011, has not named a successor as fighting rages.