Three years after Myanmar coup, junta leader’s hold on power is weaker than ever

Three years after seizing power in a coup, Min Aung Hlaing of Myanmar is in his weakest position since deposing the government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

In mid-January, at a small gathering in a cantonment town in Myanmar, hard-line pro-military monk Pauk Kotaw suggested that the country’s junta chief, Min Aung Hlaing, step down and his deputy take over. The crowd cheered in agreement, according to videos of the event posted on social media.

Online, pro-military journalists and bloggers have been similarly direct. “He should resign as commander-in-chief,” Ko Maung Maung, a pro-military YouTuber, said in a post.

Such public utterances against Myanmar’s powerful junta leader and the chief of its armed forces would have been unthinkable just a few months ago.

But after seizing power in a dawn coup d’état on Feb. 1, 2021, Min Aung Hlaing finds himself in his weakest position since deposing the democratically elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Questions about the 67-year-old’s leadership are being asked after a series of battlefield defeats for the military in a sweeping offensive by rebel groups that started in October, dubbed Operation 1027.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/myanmar-coup-three-years-junta-leader-rcna136694

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