Myanmar’s Min Aung Hlaing forms 'super agency' to consolidate power ahead of presidency

Myanmar’s military junta has announced the creation of a new governing body called the Federal Advisory Council to oversee both the armed forces and the civilian government.

Experts say the move is designed to allow junta leader Min Aung Hlaing to assume the presidency without weakening his absolute control over the military.

The announcement on state media comes just days after a general election. A new parliament is scheduled to convene next month to begin the transition of power to a nominally civilian government.

The five-member council will hold broad authority over all key components of national security and the legislative process. The Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar described the body as a "super-agency" designed to hold "supreme power" over the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.

Min Aung Hlaing seized power in a 2021 coup that ousted the elected civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The takeover sparked an ongoing civil war that has killed more than 93,000 people.

The military-backed party claimed a landslide victory in the recent election. However, the United Nations and Western nations have widely criticized the vote as a sham.

The establishment of the Federal Advisory Council represents less a transition toward civilian governance and more a strategic institutionalization of absolute military rule under a new facade. The structure is a calculated maneuver by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to occupy a ceremonial presidency while retaining de facto authority through a council he directly controls. By engineering this framework, the junta leadership is effectively bypassing constitutional constraints on executive power—a classic consolidation tactic intended to provide a veneer of legal legitimacy to a permanent military state.

This pivot signals a definitive rejection of ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus, which mandates an end to violence and the commencement of inclusive dialogue. Instead, the junta is entrenching a permanent political reality with the military as the central axis of power. This trajectory places ASEAN members, including Vietnam, in an increasingly fraught diplomatic position.

Hanoi has historically adhered to a policy of non-interference, maintaining pragmatic engagement with the military regime in contrast to the punitive sanctions regime led by Western powers. However, the permanent entrenchment of military rule within a member state poses a significant challenge to the bloc’s internal cohesion and international credibility. Vietnam and its regional neighbors now face a complex strategic calculus: how to navigate an increasingly recalcitrant military regime without compromising regional stability or the core principles that underpin ASEAN centrality.