Min Aung Hlaing (Burmese: မင်းအောင်လှိုင် abbreviated: MAL pronounced [mɪ́ɰ̃ àʊɰ̃ l̥àɪɰ̃]; born 3 July 1956) is a Burmese army general who has ruled Myanmar as the chairman of the State Administration Council since seizing power in the February 2021 coup d'état. He took the nominally civilian role of prime minister of Myanmar in August 2021. He has led the Tatmadaw (military), an independent branch of government, as the commander-in-chief of Defence Services since March 2011, when he was handpicked to succeed longtime military ruler Than Shwe, who transferred leadership over the country to a civilian government upon retiring. Before assuming leadership over the Tatmadaw, Min Aung Hlaing served as Joint Chief of Staff from 2010 to 2011. Born in Minbu, Burma, Min Aung Hlaing studied law at the Rangoon Arts and Science University before joining the military. Rising through its ranks, he became a five-star general by 2013.[better source needed] During the period of civilian rule from 2011 to 2021, Min Aung Hlaing worked to ensure the military's continued role in politics and forestalled the peace process with ethnic armed groups. A United Nations fact-finding mission found he deliberately perpetrated the Rohingya genocide. He maintained an adversarial relationship with democratically-elected State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, though she defended him against genocide charges. Baselessly claiming widespread voting irregularities and electoral fraud in the 2020 Myanmar general election in which Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won a landslide re-election, Min Aung Hlaing seized power from her in the 2021 coup. He had been expected to run for president of Myanmar had the military proxy party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, won enough seats in parliament to elect him, and would have been required to retire as Commander-in-Chief due to a constitutional age limit. With the outbreak of mass protests against his rule, Min Aung Hlaing ordered a clampdown and suppression of demonstrations, sparking an ongoing civil war. Min Aung Hlaing's forces have employed scorched earth tactics in the civil war, including airstrikes on civilians. He has ordered the execution of prominent democracy activists, the first use of the death penalty in decades. In foreign policy, he has resisted influence from ASEAN and relied on greater cooperation with Russia, China, and India. In response to his extensive human rights abuses and corruption, Min Aung Hlaing has been subjected to a series of international sanctions. The 2022 Democracy Index rated Myanmar under Min Aung Hlaing as the second-most authoritarian regime in the world, with only Afghanistan rated less democratic. From Wikipedia
