\n Myanmar's top general Min Aung Hlaing was months from retirement five years ago when he made an about-face, deposed the democratic government and promoted himself to leader.\n<\/p>\n
\n The bespectacled officer became military chief in 2011, just as Myanmar broke with its history of iron-fisted martial rule and began its latest experiment with democracy.\n<\/p>\n
\n Now 69, he spent a decade jostling with civilian leaders before mounting his coup, jailing Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and triggering a vicious civil war that is still being fought.\n<\/p>\n
\n He is presiding over a month-long poll due to wrap up on Sunday that he promises will return peace and democracy to tropical Myanmar, despite scepticism at home and abroad.\n<\/p>\n
\n The main pro-military party is on course for a landslide win, and Min Aung Hlaing has declined to rule out swapping his khaki uniform for the presidency when parliament convenes.\n<\/p>\n
\n Even if he remains armed forces chief, many in Myanmar will still regard him as the country's real but unlawful ruler.\n<\/p>\n
\n - Misdeeds and medals -\n<\/p>\n
\n Min Aung Hlaing was born in Dawei city in Myanmar's south, and studied law at university before enrolling in officer training school on his third attempt.\n<\/p>\n
\n He rose through the ranks, burnishing his credentials by leading a campaign against an ethnic rebel insurrection around crucial trade crossings with China.\n<\/p>\n
\n His predecessor, Than Shwe, ruled Myanmar for nearly two decades, but it was Min Aung Hlaing's rare fate to be a top general under civilian command.\n<\/p>\n
\n A military-drafted constitution still gave him a central role in politics, with a quarter of parliamentary seats and essential cabinet positions reserved for his officers.\n<\/p>\n
\n Even before the coup, Min Aung Hlaing was persona non grata in many countries for commanding a 2017 military crackdown on the Rohingya ethnic minority that drove about 750,000 people into Bangladesh.\n<\/p>\n
\n He was banned from Facebook for stoking hate speech, heavily sanctioned, and the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor is seeking his arrest for crimes against humanity.\n<\/p>\n
\n Min Aung Hlaing has said military operations were justified to root out insurgents and steadfastly denies allegations of human rights abuses.\n<\/p>\n
\n He also embarked on an ambitious and expensive programme to outfit the army with modern equipment, sourcing weapons and hardware from China, Russia and Israel.\n<\/p>\n
\n Every March 27, he oversees a parade of troops and materiel in the capital Naypyidaw for Armed Forces Day, standing on an open-top jeep and festooned with his many military and civilian awards.\n<\/p>\n
\n His official title in state media is \"State Security and Peace Commission Chairman Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General Thadoe Maha Thray Sithu Thadoe Thiri Thudhamma Min Aung Hlaing\".\n<\/p>\n
\n However, even as his nomenclature has grown, the number of soldiers assembled for inspection has shrunk each year, with embattled forces deployed to frontlines elsewhere.\n<\/p>\n
\n - Reinforced rule -\n<\/p>\n
\n Min Aung Hlaing was about to turn 65 -- the mandatory military retirement age at the time -- in 2021 when he toppled Suu Kyi's democratically elected government and jailed her.\n<\/p>\n
\n He claimed her National League for Democracy party had won a landslide over pro-military parties through voter fraud.\n<\/p>\n
\n Analysts said at the time he was probably anxious about the military's waning power.\n<\/p>\n
\n Security forces crushed pro-democracy protests, but activists quit the cities to fight as guerrillas alongside ethnic rebels, including those Min Aung Hlaing battled earlier in his career.\n<\/p>\n
\n There is no official death toll for Myanmar's civil war and estimates vary widely.\n<\/p>\n
\n According to non-profit organisation Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), which tallies media reports of violence, as many as 90,000 have been killed on all sides since the coup.\n<\/p>\n
\n That number almost certainly includes conscripts the military has begun forcibly recruiting to bolster its ranks.\n<\/p>\n
\n Min Aung Hlaing ruled by fiat as military chief over four years of emergency rule after the coup.\n<\/p>\n
\n He ended the state of emergency last summer and handed back power to the president's office -- which he also occupies.\n<\/p>\n
\n That is another reason why analysts, democracy monitors and many Myanmar citizens see the election as a hollow exercise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Myanmar's top general Min Aung Hlaing was months from retirement five years ago when he made an about-face, deposed the democratic government and promoted himself to leader. The bespectacled officer became military chief in 2011, just as Myanmar broke with its history of iron-fisted martial rule and began its latest experiment with democracy. Now 69, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-154657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n