U Myint Swe, Acting President of Myanmar Installed by Military, Dies at 74

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A figurehead leader, he had little real power but did endorse measures that allowed the country’s generals to extend their rule after a 2021 coup.

By Sui-Lee Wee

Myanmar’s figurehead president, U Myint Swe, who served for four years as the acting president after the military seized power in a coup, died early Thursday after a long neurological illness, according to the military government. He was 74.

The head of the military government, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, is the central figure in Myanmar. The government, led by generals, installed Mr. Myint Swe as acting president after it overthrew the civilian government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s pro-democracy icon and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Mr. Myint Swe showed up in public only every six months to endorse multiple extensions of a state of emergency, which the generals recently lifted.