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Leader – Senior General Min Aung Hlaing Deputy Leader – Vice Senior General Soe Win The military coup led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has yet to be successfully concluded, leading to a seventh extension of the six- month state of emergency. According to their own 2008 Constitution, the transfer of power during a state of emergency is only permitted for a total of two years—an initial one-year term followed by a six-month extension twice. However, they brazenly violated this same 2008 Constitution by using it as they pleased. Citing health reasons, the junta chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, removed Vice President U Myint Swe (a former military general) and appointed himself as “acting president”. The coup maker held all positions—commander-in-chief, prime minister, and chairman of the military council—and made numerous changes and purges within his own group to ensure the coup’s success. At the start of the coup, the number one priority in the military council’s five-point roadmap was to re-examine the 2020 election voter lists. However, in the five-point roadmap released on 31 January 2024, the junta’s top priority became holding a new election. Within the four-to-five-year period since the coup, the military and political pressure from resistance forces has continued to increase, and the ground forces of the military council have become extremely weak and unstable. Consequently, to urgently replenish their troop strength, they activated the conscription law and sent nearly 70,000 young people to the battlefield after only a few months or even days of military training. 1 The junta has lost control of over 100 towns and numerous military positions nationwide to resistance groups and has only been able to regain control of seven towns. Facing intense resistance offensives in 245 townships, the junta is forced to rely on daily airstrikes. However, the junta is stubbornly moving forward with its number one priority of holding a new election and only uses terms such as ceasefire, peace, and negotiation for show. The National Solidarity and Peace-making Negotiation Committee (NSPNC), which was reorganized after the military coup, is said to be spending its time merely campaigning for political parties that will participate in the election and meeting with armed groups they are not in military conflict with. The military junta, which has consistently adhered to its six-point peace policy based on the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) and the 2008 Constitution, appears to be aiming to successfully conclude its military coup by holding a new election, similar to the 2010 general election, and to transition to a government through the ballot box. On 31 July 2025, the military council was dissolved and the State Security and Peace Commission was established in its place. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who holds the dual roles of acting president and commander-in-chief, was also appointed as the chairman of this new commission. Since the coup, the name of the ruling body has changed several times, from the State Administration Council to the caretaker government, but Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has remained the leader of the military junta. 1. Nearly 70,000 youth conscripted after conscription law activated, DVB, 21 Jul 2025 Reference: Deciphering Myanmar’s Peace Process – A Reference Guide (2024 – 2025) |