Myanmar's military general, Min Aung Hlaing, who orchestrated the 2021 coup, was appointed president on Thursday, following elections widely criticized as illegitimate. His ascension to the presidency comes months after the military's proxy party secured a landslide victory in the polls, held from December to January, which international observers largely dismissed as an attempt to legitimize military rule.

General Hlaing, already serving as the country's acting president, has long been reported by analysts as seeking the top political office. His aspirations were previously hampered by the electoral successes of Aung San Suu Kyi, the popular leader whose government was overthrown in the 2021 coup. Ms. Suu Kyi remains detained, and her party was barred from participating in the recent elections. Experts suggest the leadership change is unlikely to alleviate the ongoing political instability or the deadly conflict gripping the nation. The International Crisis Group recently noted the likelihood of General Hlaing installing loyalists in pivotal government roles.

Min Aung Hlaing faces grave accusations of presiding over numerous atrocities and human rights violations. The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has sought his prosecution for crimes against humanity targeting the Rohingya Muslim minority. Reports detail that in 2009, under his command, troops allegedly displaced tens of thousands of ethnic minority individuals from their homes in Myanmar's north-east border regions. This pattern of alleged brutality reportedly intensified in 2017 during violence against the Rohingya in Rakhine state, an incident now central to a genocide case at The Hague.

Since the 2021 coup, UN investigators have further accused General Hlaing's administration of a range of severe abuses, including indiscriminate airstrikes on civilians, mass killings of detainees, dismemberment and desecration of bodies, sexual violence, and the deliberate torching of entire villages. These actions have been described by investigators as indicative of an organizational policy. In response, Myanmar has consistently denied the genocide allegations, with the military asserting its post-coup operations are legitimately aimed at combating "terrorists" who it claims are destabilizing the country.