View source for President of Myanmar

{{short description|Head of state of Myanmar}}
{{Further|List of heads of state of Myanmar}}
{{Further|List of presidents of Myanmar}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2021}}
{{EngvarB|date=November 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}}
{{Infobox official post
| post = President
| body = the<br />Republic of the Union of Myanmar
| native_name = {{lang|my|ပြည်ထောင်စု သမ္မတ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်‌ သမ္မတ}}
| insignia = State seal of Myanmar.svg
| insigniasize = 
| insigniacaption = [[State seal of Myanmar]]
| insigniaalt = 
| flag = Flag of Myanmar.svg
| flagsize = 
| flagalt = 
| flagborder = 
| flagcaption = [[Flag of Myanmar]]
| image = {{CSS image crop|Image = |bSize = 433|cWidth = 200|cHeight = 246|oLeft   = 120|oTop=80|Location = center}} Мин Аун Хлайн в Татарстане 04 (25-06-2021) (cropped 3).jpg
| imagesize = 160px
| alt = 
| imagecaption = Myint Swe during a speech on February 2021
| incumbent = [[Min Aung Hlaing]]
| acting = y
| incumbentsince = 22 July 2024
| department = 
| style = [[Excellency|His Excellency]] (formal)
| type = [[Head of state]]
| status = 
| abbreviation = 
| member_of = [[Cabinet of Myanmar|Cabinet]] (normally)<br/>[[National Defence and Security Council]]
| reports_to = 
| residence = [[Presidential Palace, Naypyidaw|Presidential Palace]]
| seat = [[Naypyidaw]]
| nominator = [[Pyidaungsu Hluttaw|Assembly of the Union]]
| appointer = [[Presidential Electoral College]]
| appointer_qualified = 
| termlength = Five years,
| termlength_qualified = renewable once
| constituting_instrument = [[Constitution of Myanmar]]
| precursor = [[List of colonial governors of Burma|Governor of Burma]]
| formation = {{start date and age|df=y|1948|1|4}}
| first = [[Sao Shwe Thaik]]
| last = 
| abolished = 
| succession = 
| unofficial_names = 
| deputy = [[Vice President of Myanmar|Vice President]]
| salary = [[Burmese kyat|K]]5 million/US$ 2,385 per month<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.mmtimes.com/news/nld-cuts-salaries-mps-ministers-saves-nearly-k6b.html|title = NLD cuts salaries of MPS, ministers, saves nearly K6b|date = 25 February 2019|access-date = 12 January 2020|archive-date = 30 November 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211130102708/https://www.mmtimes.com/news/nld-cuts-salaries-mps-ministers-saves-nearly-k6b.html|url-status = dead}}</ref>
| website = {{url|www.president-office.gov.mm}}
| footnotes = 
}}
{{Contains special characters|Burmese}}
{{Politics of Myanmar}}

The '''president of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar''' ({{MYname|MY=နိုင်ငံတော်‌ သမ္မတ|MLCTS= nuing ngam tau samma.ta. }}) is the [[head of state]] and constitutional [[head of government]] of [[Myanmar]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Junta Watch: Old Faces Reappear, Coup Leader Declares Himself Buddhism's Savior and More |url=https://irrawaddy.com/news/burma/junta-watch-old-faces-reappear-coup-leader-declares-himself-buddhisms-savior-and-more.html |access-date=14 March 2022 |work=[[The Irrawaddy]] |date=5 February 2022}}</ref> The president chairs the [[National Defence and Security Council]] and normally leads the [[Cabinet of Myanmar]], the [[executive branch]] of the Burmese government, though the military [[Prime Minister of Myanmar|prime minister]] leads the cabinet under the current state of emergency. Acting President [[Min Aung Hlaing]], the head of the military and prime minister since 2021, is the current holder since Acting President [[Myint Swe]] transferred his powers in July 2024. Myint Swe had himself been installed by Min Aung Hlaing through a [[2021 Myanmar coup d'état|military coup d'état on 1 February 2021]]. There is no constitutional mechanism for the transfer of presidential authority outside the order of succession, making the constitutionality of the transfer questionable according to legal experts.<ref>{{cite web |title=Myanmar coup: who are the military figures running the country? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/02/myanmar-coup-who-are-the-military-figures-running-the-country |website=The Guardian |access-date=23 February 2021 |date=2 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Milko |first1=Victoria |title=Why is the military taking control in the Myanmar coup? |url=https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-02-01/why-military-taking-control-coup-myanmar |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=10 March 2021 |date=1 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Myanmar Military Seizes Power |url=https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-military-seizes-power.html |website=The Irrawaddy |access-date=10 March 2021 |date=1 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Milko |first1=Victoria |last2=Kurtenbach |first2=Elaine |title=A decade after junta's end, Myanmar military back in control |url=https://apnews.com/article/myanmar-coup-aung-san-suu-kyi-a9843c6bf9c85b3944a606017e500162 |website=Associated Press |access-date=10 March 2021 |date=1 February 2021}}</ref><ref name="July 2022">{{cite news |author1=Khine Lin Kyaw |title=Myanmar Extends State of Emergency For Six Months Until February |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-31/myanmar-extends-state-of-emergency-for-six-months-until-february |access-date=1 August 2022 |work=[[Bloomberg News]] |date=31 July 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Myanmar junta leader assumes presidential powers as president takes 'sick leave,' state media reports |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/22/asia/myanmar-junta-leader-presidential-powers-intl-latam/index.html |access-date=7 October 2024 |work=[[CNN]] |date=22 July 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Myanmar Junta Defends Min Aung Hlaing's Presidential Power Grab as 'Constitutional' |url=https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/politics/myanmar-junta-defends-min-aung-hlaings-presidential-power-grab-as-constitutional.html |access-date=7 October 2024 |work=[[The Irrawaddy]] |date=24 July 2024}}</ref> Though a constitutionally powerful position, the presidency is a largely symbolic post under the current military government, with the only presidential action having been to declare and extend the state of emergency.<ref name="Junta watch">{{cite news |title=Junta Watch: Old Faces Reappear, Coup Leader Declares Himself Buddhism's Savior and More |url=https://irrawaddy.com/news/burma/junta-watch-old-faces-reappear-coup-leader-declares-himself-buddhisms-savior-and-more.html |access-date=14 March 2022 |work=[[The Irrawaddy]] |date=5 February 2022}}</ref><ref name="July 2022" /><ref>{{cite news |title=The leader of Myanmar's army government is named acting president so he can renew state of emergency |url=https://apnews.com/article/army-min-aung-hlaing-myint-swe-president-210cebcc6268b372493041b70fcf0a25 |access-date=7 October 2024 |work=[[Associated Press]] |date=22 July 2024 |location=[[Bangkok, Thailand]]}}</ref>

The president is elected by [[members of parliament]], not by the general population; specifically the [[Presidential Electoral College]], a three-committee body composed of members of parliament, elects the president.<ref name="reu">{{cite news|url=http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-54526820110131?pageNumber=1|archive-url=https://archive.today/20160403042807/http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-54526820110131?pageNumber=1|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 April 2016|title=FACTBOX – Myanmar's new political structure|date=31 January 2011|work=Reuters|access-date=21 August 2011}}</ref> Each of the three committees, made up of [[Amyotha Hluttaw]], [[Pyithu Hluttaw]] members of parliament, or military-appointed lawmakers, nominates a candidate for presidency.<ref name="reu"/>

After the 2015 election, the extraconstitutional post of [[State Counsellor of Myanmar]] was created for [[Aung San Suu Kyi]], the leader of the majority party, the [[National League for Democracy]], because she was ineligible for the presidency. She served as the ''de facto'' head of government until she was deposed in the 2021 coup d'état by [[Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services]] [[Min Aung Hlaing]], who created the extraconstitutional posts of [[chairman of the State Administration Council]] and prime minister for himself to lead the government.

==Leadership roles==
The president is the head of state and head of government. The position of President was created in 1948, with the adoption of the [[Burmese Declaration of Independence]] from the [[United Kingdom]]. Since then, eleven people have held the office (with two of them doing so on multiple occasions).

Due to the country's long period of military rule, it has not been uncommon for the prime minister to be a serving (or recently retired) [[Officer (armed forces)|military officer]]. The actual power of the prime minister has considerably varied over time, depending on who holds the office. In 2004, a power struggle between the then–[[head of state]], [[Senior general (Myanmar)|Senior General]] [[Than Shwe]], chairman of the [[State Peace and Development Council]] ([[State Peace and Development Council|SPDC]]), and the [[Prime Minister of Myanmar|prime minister]] at the time , [[General]] [[Khin Nyunt]], resulted in the latter being dismissed and arrested.

The prime minister position was abolished on 30 March 2011, according to the current [[Constitution of Myanmar|Constitution]] (adopted in [[2008 Myanmar constitutional referendum|2008]]). It provided that the president is both the head of state and ''[[de jure]]'' head of government. But after the [[2015 Myanmar general election|2015 general election]], as [[Aung San Suu Kyi]] was constitutionally barred from becoming President, a position called [[State Counsellor of Myanmar|State Counsellor]], similar to the position of [[Prime Minister]], was established for her in 2016. She served as the ''[[de facto]]'' head of government and the dominant state figure until she was removed with the 2021 coup d'état. The president has the sole authority to convene meetings of the [[National Defence and Security Council]], a body responsible for Myanmar's security and defense affairs.<ref name="Slow">{{cite book |last1=Slow |first1=Oliver |title=Return of the junta: why Myanmar's military must go back to the barracks |date=2023 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |location=London New York Oxford New Delhi Sydney |isbn=978-1-350-28965-9 |page=11}}</ref>

==Qualifications==
The [[Constitution of Myanmar]] sets the principle qualifications that the candidate must meet to be eligible to the office of the President. in Chapter 1: The President, Part I: The Federation of Myanmar in the [[Constitution of Myanmar]]. President has to be:
* A [[Myanmar nationality law|citizen]] of [[Myanmar]].
* At least 45 years of age.
* Qualified to be elected as member of the [[National Assembly of Myanmar|National Assembly]].

According to the [[Constitution of Myanmar]], the president:
# shall be loyal to the Union and its citizens;
# shall be a citizen of Myanmar who was born of both parents who were born in the territory under the jurisdiction of the Union and being [[Burmese nationality law|Myanmar Nationals]];
# shall be an elected person who has attained at least the age of 45;
# shall be well acquainted with the affairs of the Union such as political, administrative, economic and military;
# shall be a person who has resided continuously in the Union for at least 20 years up to the time of his election as President<br />(Proviso: An official period of stay in a foreign country with the permission of the Union shall be counted as a residing period in the Union)
# shall he himself, one of the parents, the spouse, one of the legitimate children or their spouses not owe allegiance to a foreign power, not be subject of a foreign power or citizen of a foreign country. They shall not be persons entitled to enjoy the rights and privileges of a subject of a foreign government or citizen of a foreign country;
# shall possess prescribed qualifications of the President, in addition to qualifications prescribed to stand for election to the Hluttaw.

Moreover, upon taking oath in office, the president is constitutionally forbidden from taking part in any political party activities (Chapter III, 64).

==Election process==
The president is not directly elected by Burmese voters; instead, they are indirectly elected by the [[Electoral College (Burma)|Presidential Electoral College]] ({{lang|my|သမ္မတရွေးချယ်တင်မြှောက်ရေးအဖွဲ့}}), an electoral body made of three separate committees. One committee is composed of MPs who represent the proportions of MPs elected from each Region or State; another is composed of MPs who represent the proportions of MPs elected from each township population; the third is of military-appointed MPs personally nominated by the [[Myanmar Armed Forces|Defence Services]]' commander-in-chief.

Each of the three committees nominates a presidential candidate. Afterward, all the [[Pyidaungsu Hluttaw]] MPs vote for one of three candidates—the candidate with the highest number of votes is elected president, while the other two are elected as vice-presidents. The president serves for a term of 5 years. Should a president resign for any reason or die in office, the Presidential Electoral College will meet and each of the three committees will nominate a candidate to finish out the prior President's term so that the terms of the legislature and presidency are synchronised. The candidate who receives the most votes from the nominees is elected.

This process is similar to the one prescribed by the [[Constitution of Burma|1947 Constitution]], in which MPs from the [[Pyidaungsu Hluttaw|Parliament]]'s Chamber of Nationalities and Chamber of Deputies elected the president by secret ballot.<ref>[http://www.blc-burma.org/html/Constitution/1947.html The Constitution of the Union of Burma] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150630025838/http://www.blc-burma.org/html/Constitution/1947.html |date=30 June 2015 }} (1947), Chapter V: The President</ref> The President was then responsible for appointing a [[Prime Minister of Burma|prime minister]] (on the advice of the Chamber of Deputies), who was constitutionally recognised as the [[head of government]] and led the [[Cabinet of Burma|Cabinet]].

==History==
Before independence, Myanmar had two quasi-constitutions, The government of Burma Act, 1935 and Constitution of Burma under Japanese occupation, 1943. After independence, Myanmar adopted three constitutions in 1947, 1974 and 2008. The 2008 constitution is the present constitution of Myanmar.

===Before Independence===
Prior to 1863, different regions of modern-day Burma were governed separately. From 1862 to 1923, the colonial administration, housed in [[Yangon|Rangoon's]] [[Ministers' Building|Secretariat]] building, was headed by a chief commissioner (1862–1897) or a lieutenant-governor (1897–1923), who headed the administration, underneath the [[Governor-General of India|governor-general of India]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Taylor|first=Robert H.|title=The State in Myanmar|publisher=NUS Press|year=2009|isbn=978-9971-69-466-1|pages=75–76}}</ref>

From 31 January 1862 to 1 May 1897, [[British Burma]] was headed by a chief commissioner. The subsequent expansion of British Burma, with the acquisitions of [[Upper Burma]] and the [[Shan States]] throughout this period increased the demands of the position, and led to an upgrade in the colonial leadership and an expansion of government (Burma was accorded a separate government and legislative council in 1897).<ref name="nisbet">{{cite book|last=Nisbet|first=John|title=Burma under British rule—and before|publisher=A. Constable & Co., ltd.|year=1901|volume=1|pages=220–221}}</ref>

Consequently, from 1 May 1897 to 2 January 1923, the province was led by a lieutenant governor. In 1937, Burma was formally separated from [[British India]] and began to be administered as a separate British colony, with a fully elected bicameral legislature, consisting of the Senate and House of Representatives. From 2 January 1923 to 4 January 1948, British Burma was led by a Governor, who led the cabinet and was responsible for the colony's defence, foreign relations, finance, and ethnic regions ([[Frontier Areas]] and [[Shan States]]). From 1 January 1944 to 31 August 1946, a British military governor governed the colony. During the [[Japanese occupation of Burma]] from 1942 to 1945, a Japanese military commander headed the government, while the British-appointed governor headed the colony in exile.

Burma became independent in 1948. There was a president from 1948 to 1962, and then 1974 and 1988. Between 1962 and 1974 and between 1988 and 2011, Burma was headed by military regimes. The office of the president was restored in 2011.

===1947 Constitution===
The 1947 constitution was drafted by [[Chan Htoon]] and was used from the country's independence in 1948 to 1962, when the constitution was suspended by the socialist [[Union Revolutionary Council]], led by military general [[Ne Win]]. The national government consisted of three branches: [[Judicial branch|judicial]], [[Legislative branch|legislative]] and [[Executive branch|executive]]. The legislative branch was a [[bicameral legislature]] called the [[Union Parliament]], consisting of two chambers, the 125-seat [[Chamber of Nationalities]] ({{lang|my|လူမျိုးစုလွှတ်တော်}} ''Lumyozu Hluttaw'') and the [[Chamber of Deputies (Myanmar)|Chamber of Deputies]] ({{lang|my|ပြည်သူ့လွှတ်တော်}} ''Pyithu Hluttaw''), whose seat numbers were determined by the population size of respective constituencies. The 1947 constitution was largely based on the [[1946 Yugoslav Constitution]], and several Burmese officials visited Yugoslavia.

===1974 Constitution===
Approved in a [[1973 Burmese constitutional referendum|1973 referendum]], the 1974 constitution was the second constitution to be written. It created a [[unicameral]] legislature called the [[People's Assembly (Burma)|People's Assembly]] (Pyithu Hluttaw), represented by members of the [[Burma Socialist Programme Party]] The Constitution of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma. Each term was 4 years. [[Ne Win]] became the president at this time.

===Between 1988 and 2008===
Upon taking power in September 1988, the military based [[State Peace and Development Council|State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC)]] suspended the 1974 constitution.<ref>"Legal Constraints on Civil Society in Burma" (conference paper), ''Strengthening Civil Society in Burma. Possibilities and Dilemmas for International NGOs''; Amsterdam: Transnational Institute and the Burma Centrum Nederland, Royal Tropical Institute. Via ''Burma Library''; last accessed 5 October 2010.</ref> The SLORC called a constitutional convention in 1993, but it was suspended in 1996 when the [[National League for Democracy]] (NLD) boycotted it, calling it undemocratic. The constitutional convention was again called in 2004, but without the [[National League for Democracy|NLD]]. Myanmar remained without a constitution until 2008.

===2008 Constitution===
{{main|2008 Constitution of Myanmar}}

On 9 April 2008, the military government of [[Myanmar]] (Burma) released its proposed [[constitution]] for the country to be put to a vote in public referendum on 10 May 2008, as part of its [[roadmap to democracy]]. The constitution is hailed by the [[Tatmadaw|military]] as heralding a return to democracy, but the opposition sees it as a tool for continuing military control of the country.

====2008 constitutional referendum====
{{Further|2008 Myanmar constitutional referendum}}

====2012 by-elections====
In spite of its earlier opposition to the 2008 constitution, the NLD participated in the [[2012 Burmese by-elections|2012 by-election]] for 46 seats and won a landslide victory, with Aung San Suu Kyi becoming a member of parliament, alongside 42 others from her party.

====2015 election====
{{main|2015 Myanmar general election}}
On 15 March 2016, the Assembly of the Union elected [[Htin Kyaw]] as the [[List of presidents of Myanmar|9th]] president of Myanmar. He resigned on 21 March 2018 and [[Myint Swe]] became acting president.

On 28 March 2018, the Assembly of the Union elected Win Myint as the 10th president of Myanmar.

==List of presidents of Myanmar==
{{Further|List of heads of state of Myanmar}}
{{Further|List of presidents of Myanmar}}

==See also==
* [[Myanmar]]
** [[Politics of Myanmar]]
** [[List of colonial governors of Burma]]
** [[List of presidents of Myanmar]]
** [[Vice President of Myanmar]]
** [[Prime Minister of Myanmar]]
** [[State Counsellor of Myanmar]]
* [[Lists of office-holders]]

==Notes==
{{NoteFoot}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Heads of state of Burma (Myanmar)}}
{{Government of Burma}}
{{Burma (Myanmar) topics}}
{{Southeast Asian leaders}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:President Of Burma}}
[[Category:Government of Myanmar]]
[[Category:Presidents of Myanmar| ]]
[[Category:1948 establishments in Burma]]