Myanmar faces ‘a lot of challenges to overcome’
Myanmar’s government has many challenges to overcome, and new President Min Aung Hlaing is trying to improve the country’s international standing, including normalizing relations with Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN after five years in the cold.
The former army chief, who was the architect of the 2021 coup that led to civil war and international sanctions, said in his inauguration speech that his government would push to encourage foreign investment and domestic job growth as part of “effective, long-term strategic plans” for resource-rich Myanmar.
“Myanmar is now moving towards democracy but the new government has many challenges to overcome,” Min Aung Hlaing told a parliament full of lawmakers from a military-backed party and legislators hand-picked by the military. he said.
“The new government will implement a road map based on democracy and federalism… our priorities are democracy and peace.”
His speech on Friday lasted less than 20 minutes and lacked details about his agenda, including what steps he would take to end Myanmar’s international isolation or combat the violent civil war in which the military is accused of widespread atrocities against civilians.
He denies wrong.
Min Aung Hlaing, 69, was elected president by parliament a week ago, formalizing his grip on power after a coup that ended a decade of temporary democracy and triggered an exodus of foreign investors from the region, once one of Asia’s most promising frontier markets.
His difficult but carefully choreographed journey from top general to civilian president follows a landslide election won by a military party with no viable opposition; Critics and Western governments cast the vote as a sham designed to prolong the rule of the armed forces behind the veneer of democracy.
The coup and subsequent crackdown on nationwide protests led to intervention by the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which subsequently banned the junta from attending summits.
“We will improve international relations and strive to restore normal relations with ASEAN,” Min Aung Hlaing said in the speech attended by more than 50 foreign delegates, including Russia, China and Thailand, among the few countries that maintain relations with the junta. he said.
The ceremony also included the swearing-in ceremony of Min Aung Hlaing’s new cabinet, which consists of remnants of the junta period and retired military officers who have directly ruled Myanmar for the last six decades.
Min Aung Hlaing said in his speech that “appropriate amnesties” would be considered to promote peace and reconciliation, but did not elaborate.
Thousands of junta opponents remain detained, including Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the 80-year-old leader of the elected government ousted by Min Aung Hlaing.
