Min Aung Hlaing's Cabinet Packed with Military Holdovers
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- Myanmar's Parliament approved 30 ministers for President Min Aung Hlaing's Cabinet on April 9, a week after he was appointed president, with retired military officers and previous-administration holdovers dominating the slate.
- Defence Minister Maung Maung Aye retired and was replaced by General Tun Aung, the former air commander-in-chief, while Lt-Gen Yar Pyae stepped down as Border Affairs Minister and was succeeded by Lt-Gen Hpone Myat, formerly home affairs minister.
- Tin Maung Swe, a former ambassador to China and ex-military attache in Britain, was appointed foreign affairs minister, and retired generals Mya Tun Oo and Tin Aung San — defence ministers since the 2021 coup — were reappointed.
- Min Aung Hlaing also nominated former officials to head 14 additional ministries, extending former military generals and police chiefs' dominance across Myanmar's legislative, executive and judicial branches.
- Independent analyst Aung Kyaw Soe said Min Aung Hlaing has built a system where military officers "wear traditional civilian attire to govern in a civilian capacity" while he maintains centralised control, adding there is "no reason to expect genuine progress."
- The Cabinet formation follows the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party's widely disputed election win — dismissed as a sham by the UN and many Western countries — and comes as Myanmar remains gripped by violence since the 2021 coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government.
Why it matters: The military's entrenchment across all branches of government means Myanmar's civilian population — already living under post-2021-coup violence — faces continued centralised junta rule with no structural reform, while the appointment of a former China ambassador as foreign minister signals Beijing as a key diplomatic channel for the new government.
