What to know as military-led Myanmar transitions back to an elected government

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BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar ’s Parliament on Monday began the process of electing the country’s next president, which will mark a nominal return to an elected government after five years of military rule, but is widely considered to be an effort to keep power in the hands of the army.

The process began the same day that Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the military-led government, announced that he was relinquishing his concurrent post of the military's commander-in-chief. The move is a prerequisite for becoming head of state, because the Constitution prohibits the president from simultaneously holding the top military position.

Min Aung Hlaing will be among three nominees to contend for the president’s post, but is virtually certain to get the job as lawmakers from military-backed parties and appointed members from the military hold a commanding majority in Parliament.

Here’s what to know about the nominal transition to elected democracy:

The Lower House, the Upper House and the military bloc — which by appointment holds a quarter of the seats in the legislature — can each propose a nominee, formally for vice president. Min Aung Hlaing was one of two put forward by the Lower House, while the Upper House offered up two relatively unknown candidates, and the military did not announce their choices.

Once each group settles on a single nominee and their credentials are verified by a review committee, the 586-member legislature will vote; the candidate with the highest number of votes will become president, while the other two will serve as vice presidents.

Although the exact timing of the vote remains unclear, the vote could come as early as Thursday.

Parliament’s members were elected in three phases of voting held in December and January. Opponents of military rule charged that the polls were unfair, designed to legitimize military rule after ousting Aung San Suu Kyi ’s elected government in February 2021.

Myanmar was under military rule from 1962 until 2016, when Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party came to power after a landslide 2015 election victory. It won an even greater mandate in the 2020 general election, but the army seized power before the new Parliament could convene.

Peaceful protests against military rule were put down with deadly force, and pro-democracy activists turned to armed resistance, allying themselves with ethnic minority groups who have long been fighting for greater autonomy.

Much of the country is now enmeshed in a brutal civil war, and security concerns meant voting in the recent election could be held in only 263 of the country’s 330 townships.

Min Aung Hlaing had led Myanmar’s military since 2011, retaining broad political powers as well under the 2008 military-drafted constitution. His profile rose internationally after a 2017 campaign of repression against the Rohingya Muslim ethnic minority, which drove hundreds of thousands into Bangladesh for refuge amid alleged atrocities.

State-run MRTV television reported that the 69-year-old Min Aung Hlaing transferred command of the military on Monday to his close aide, Gen. Ye Win Oo, in a ceremony in the capital, Naypyitaw.

Ye Win Oo, 60, previously served as secretary of the ruling State Administration Council and the State Security and Peace Commission, established after the army takeover.

Major opposition parties, including Suu Kyi's former ruling National League for Democracy, were either blocked from running in the recent election or refused to compete under conditions they deemed unfair.

Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s 80-year-old former leader, is serving a 27-year prison term on charges widely viewed as spurious and politically motivated. Her party was forced to dissolve in 2023 after refusing to register under new military rules.