Myanmar: Military Rule Cannot Rebuild the Country

Editorial

15:06 JST, April 8, 2026

The head of Myanmar’s military, which staged a coup five years ago and overthrew the pro-democracy government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, has been elected president.

It is now certain that military rule, which has oppressed the people, will continue. It must be said that the path to a return to civilian rule has been closed for the time being.

In a vote held by members of Myanmar’s parliament to elect a president, former commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing was chosen as the new president among three candidates. This marks the first time the parliament has elected a new president since the coup.

However, the current parliament is composed mainly of lawmakers elected in a general election that the military pushed ahead with between December last year and January this year by excluding major pro-democracy forces. Eighty percent of the lawmakers are pro-military.

The election was far from fair. The fact that the president was chosen based on the election results by no means indicates that the military has been endorsed by the public.

In Myanmar, the military, pro-democracy forces and ethnic minority armed groups remain engaged in a civil war. About 8,000 people have died since the coup as a result of the military’s crackdown. There are concerns that harm will spread further.

Previously, Myanmar spent a long time under military rule, but Thein Sein, who became president in 2011, promoted democratization and economic reforms despite his military background, leading the country to be dubbed “Asia’s last frontier.”

As a country rich in resources such as rare earth elements and situated in a strategic location on the Indian Ocean, Myanmar had attracted many Japanese companies.

However, the coup in 2021 has completely changed the situation. Many countries, including Japan, the United States and European nations, have not recognized the military’s rule since the coup, deepening Myanmar’s international isolation. The once-booming economy has also been severely weakened due to such factors as sanctions from the West.

As long as the military continues to cling to power by staging its legitimacy through a nominal transfer of power to civilian rule, there will be no prospect for national reconstruction.

To normalize the political situation, Myanmar should release Suu Kyi and others who have been unjustly detained since the coup and hold a free and fair election once again.

Meanwhile, the leaders of China and Russia have extended congratulations to Myanmar’s new president. Beijing and Moscow have provided weapons and economic aid to the Myanmar military. If the influence of these two nations on Myanmar grows excessively, the regional situation will become even more unstable.

Japan must continue its engagement with Myanmar in close cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations through such means as humanitarian aid for internally displaced people, who are said to number more than 3.7 million.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, April 8, 2026)