Myanmar’s figurehead leader Myint Swe dies at 74 after illness
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The 74-year-old Myint Swe died in hospital on the morning of Aug 7, state-run MRTV said.
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YANGON - Mr Myint Swe, Myanmar’s acting president and a former general sanctioned by the US for his role in a 2021 coup, died at the age of 74 from Parkinson’s disease and related neurological disorders.
His death on Aug 7 was announced by the press office of the National Defence and Security Council.
“Acting President Myint Swe passed away at 8.28am local time,” it said in a statement, adding a state funeral is planned, without mentioning the exact date.
Junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing is expected to fully assume Mr Myint Swe’s duties.
He has already been serving as acting president during National Defence Council meetings in the capital Naypyidaw.
Mr Myint Swe, a former lieutenant-general, became the acting president after the military ousted the civilian government
He was seen as a junta stalwart and mostly a ceremonial figure under Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing.
Mr Myint Swe previously served as army-appointed first vice-president and was sanctioned by the US alongside Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing for being one of the “perpetrators” of the coup.
The US Treasury said in its sanctions notice that he was one of the people “who played a leading role in the overthrow of Burma’s democratically elected government.”
Since the coup, Mr Myint Swe has rarely been seen in public.
As the chair of the National Defence and Security Council, he was mainly responsible for granting and renewing the military chief’s powers during the prolonged state of emergency until he took medical leave on July 18, 2024.
After receiving treatment in Singapore and Naypyidaw around mid-2024 and continuing care at home, Mr Myint Swe was sidelined.
Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing assumed his duties, extending emergency rule twice before lifting it last week.
A close ally of former junta chief Than Shwe, Mr Myint Swe served in the military for about four decades before becoming the Yangon region’s chief minister in 2011.
He was reportedly responsible for the previous junta’s violent crackdown on protesters during the 2007 Saffron Revolution.
The US sanctioned him but removed the designation in 2016.
In 2017, Mr Myint Swe led an inquiry into the military’s so-called clearance operations in Rakhine state, which forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh and drew global condemnation.
The Mr Myint Swe-led commission dismissed allegations of genocide, saying there was “insufficient evidence to take legal action”. BLOOMBERG
