Myanmar's Min Aung Hlaing Marks 100 Days as President, Trashes ASEAN Peace Plan

Myanmar's junta chief turned civilian president, Min Aung Hlaing, stood before more than 900 lawmakers, officials, and military representatives in the capital Naypyitaw on Friday to mark his first 100 days in office. He used the moment to defend his record and roll out a five-year road map, according to Newsday.

Min Aung Hlaing seized power in a 2021 coup that ousted the elected government of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, according to AstroAwani. That coup triggered a civil war that has killed roughly 100,000 people and displaced millions, AstroAwani reported. He was sworn in as president in April after an election critics say was engineered to keep the military in charge, per Newsday.

A general traded his uniform for a parliamentary title. Nobody serious thinks that changes who runs the country.

The Plan: Two Years Building, Three Years Sprinting

Min Aung Hlaing told Parliament his government would spend two years "accelerating efforts to build a modern and developed nation based on democracy and a federal system," then three more years pushing full speed on that build-out, according to Newsday. He framed his first 100 days as laying "important foundations" around two priorities: restoring peace and stability, and national development.

He also announced special elections for 2027 in 102 townships that couldn't vote during last year's three-phase national election because of active fighting, Newsday reported.

Slamming ASEAN

Min Aung Hlaing directly criticized the five-point consensus that Southeast Asian leaders reached in 2021 to end Myanmar's civil war, according to Newsday. He claimed the plan was issued without agreement from all ASEAN member states and that the bloc discriminated against Myanmar.

That ASEAN plan asked for an immediate end to violence and dialogue between warring parties brokered by an ASEAN special envoy, Newsday reported. Four years later, the fighting hasn't stopped and Myanmar's junta has largely ignored the framework anyway. A complaint that the plan is "unfair" rings a little hollow when his own government never fully engaged with it in the first place.

ASEAN operates on consensus, and Myanmar's government has a real grievance that it was effectively frozen out of the bloc's top-level meetings without being consulted on every detail of the peace framework imposed on it. That's a legitimate procedural complaint even if you think the junta itself created the crisis ASEAN was trying to solve.

Energy, Scams, and the Conscription Problem He Won't Own

Min Aung Hlaing laid out infrastructure plans including 10 power generation projects, according to Newsday. That list includes the controversial Myitsone hydropower project, which was suspended more than a decade ago after environmental protests. He also said the government is pushing to build a nuclear power plant.

On crime, Min Aung Hlaing said Myanmar authorities have repatriated more than 72,000 foreigners linked to online scam operations to 58 countries, per Newsday. Myanmar's scam-center problem, often run out of border regions with weak state control, has drawn international attention for years as a hub for forced-labor scam operations targeting victims worldwide.

He also said his government continues fighting pro-democracy activists and ethnic minority rebel groups while enforcing the military's conscription law, according to Newsday. He touted talks with 13 ethnic armed groups and said the government has invited armed factions to lay down weapons.

Min Aung Hlaing acknowledged that the mass departure of young Myanmar citizens is hurting the economy, according to Newsday. But he did not acknowledge the role his own conscription law plays in driving that exodus, something Newsday specifically flagged as "widely cited" as a key factor behind young people fleeing the country. You can't complain about a labor shortage while running the draft that's causing it and expect nobody to notice.

What Happens Next

The 2027 special elections in the 102 unable-to-vote townships are the next concrete marker to watch, assuming the areas are stable enough to hold them at all. Given that armed conflict prevented voting there the first time, whether the war has cooled enough by 2027 remains an open question. Neither AP News nor AstroAwani's available coverage detailed what concessions, if any, ASEAN has offered in response to Min Aung Hlaing's criticism, leaving the diplomatic standoff between Naypyitaw and the regional bloc unresolved.