At the first convening of the newly elected parliament of Myanmar on Monday, the country’s military chief, Min Aung Hlaing, was nominated for the post of president. The move comes on the heels of what has been widely panned as an unfair election, from which the main opposition parties were excluded. 

The parliament is operated by a coalition of parties loyal to the military, and by the military itself, which occupies a constitutionally mandated 25% of the seats. Together with its allies, the military controls nearly 90% of seats across the bicameral body. 

Min Aung Hlaing led a 2021 coup that deposed a democratically elected government headed by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. 

According to analysts, Min Aung Hlaing’s desire for the presidency played a role in the coup. However, under the law, he must give up his current role as head of the armed forces if he accepts the presidency. However, rumors suggest that others in military leadership may be unhappy with him, introducing an element of risk to the move. 

What is certain is that his consolidation of political power does not bode well for the country’s religious minorities or political opposition. Since taking power, the junta has arrested more than 30,000 political prisoners and killed nearly 8,000, according to data published this week by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. 

Myanmar’s military, known locally as the Tatmadaw, is currently waging what has been described as the world’s longest civil war against its civilian population, bombing churches, mosques, hospitals, and entire villages. Its genocide against the ethnoreligious Rohingya minority is ongoing and has led to the displacement of at least 1.5 million people and the deaths of tens of thousands. 

Earlier this year, the Tatmadaw bombed a predominantly Mennonite Christian village, drawing international condemnation. This strike was not an anomaly — according to the Myanmar Peace Monitor, the Tatmadaw struck more than 1,000 civilian locations during a recent 15-month period. 

In March 2025, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released a report criticizing the Tatmadaw for its systematic repression of religious minorities and urging the international community to increase attention to the plight of those persecuted in Myanmar. 

“The country has seen the displacement of over 3.5 million people in recent years,” the USCIRF report noted, “including more than 90,000 in Christian-majority Chin State, 237,200 in Kachin State, and one million Muslim-majority Rohingya refugees.” 

In a March 2026 report, USCIRF again highlighted the Tatmadaw’s egregious attacks on religious minorities of all kinds, including Christians. “Churches,” the report noted, “particularly those in Christian-majority areas, continued to endure airstrikes and torching.” 

Though a large majority of the population is ethnic Burman, and an even greater percentage is Buddhist, the communities that make up the remainder are well established, well organized, and, for the most part, predate the formation of the modern state by centuries. 

In many cases, Myanmar’s ethnic minorities have also taken on distinct religious identities. About 20% to 30% of ethnic Karen are Christians, while other groups — such as the Chin — are more than 90% Christian. This overlap of ethnic and religious identity has created a particularly volatile situation for believers. 

Representing an extremist interpretation of Buddhism, the Burmese military has a long history of violence against the people of Myanmar, including ethnic and religious minorities such as the Muslim-majority Rohingya and the Christian-majority Chin. 

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