Myanmar's Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing stepped down as commander in chief of the country's military and entered the presidential selection process, Reuters reported on March 30. He handed command of the armed forces to loyalist Gen. Ye Win Oo, enabling him to maintain control over the military hierarchy.

The move follows the military's stage-managed elections in December 2025 and January 2026, which were designed to institutionalize military rule under a nominally civilian government. It also comes as the military seeks to stabilize elite cohesion and reassert political legitimacy amid battlefield setbacks and the ongoing protracted civil war that has weakened its authority.