Myanmar’s figurehead president, U Myint Swe, who served for four years as the acting president after the military seized power in a coup, died early Thursday after a long neurological illness, according to the military government. He was 74.
The head of the military government, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, is the central figure in Myanmar. The government, led by generals, installed Mr. Myint Swe as acting president after it overthrew the civilian government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s pro-democracy icon and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Mr. Myint Swe showed up in public only every six months to endorse multiple extensions of a state of emergency, which the generals recently lifted.
But for years before, Mr. Myint Swe was already an acolyte of the generals and did their bidding, such as cracking down on peaceful protests.
Mr. Myint Swe had withdrawn from political life for more than a year because he was on medical leave. He died in a hospital in the capital, Naypyidaw, from “neurodegenerative diseases and related neurological disorders,” according to the military government.
Although Mr. Myint Swe was still the acting president, General Min Aung Hlaing had been performing his duties since July 2024.
The military government announced that Mr. Myint Swe would be given a state funeral, but in Myanmar, few tears were likely to be shed.
“His death brings no real change for the country,” said U Kyee Myint, a human rights lawyer in Myanmar. “He was merely a puppet president.”
Myanmar has been wracked by a four-year civil war since protesters rose up against the military after the coup in 2021. About half the country is now controlled by these protesters and by armed ethnic groups the military has long fought, while the other half is controlled by the military.
During the Saffron Revolution in 2007, when Buddhist monks led popular protests in Myanmar, Mr. Myint Swe led a brutal crackdown, arresting monks and civilians. He said publicly then that the killings were part of his duty.
He also served as chief minister of Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, under the quasi-civilian government between 2011 and 2016, and led its regional military command for years under the previous military government, which stepped down in 2011.
“In reality, we can say he died without ever facing any punishment for what he did,” said Ko Tun Lin, a resident of Yangon. “At the very least, I would have wanted him to receive the punishment he deserved before he died.”
Sui-Lee Wee is the Southeast Asia bureau chief for The Times, overseeing coverage of 11 countries in the region.
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