The junta's Defense Ministry scrapped the age limit for commander-in-chief and deputy commander-in-chief on Feb. 4, just days after Min Aung Hlaing seized power in a coup Feb. 1, the Irrawaddy news website report said. He turned 65 in April.
he Myanmar junta has eliminated the mandatory retirement age of 65 for military chiefs, enabling junta leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing to continue in his post, a local online news outlet reported Thursday.
The junta's Defense Ministry scrapped the age limit for commander-in-chief and deputy commander-in-chief on Feb. 4, just days after Min Aung Hlaing seized power in a coup Feb. 1, the Irrawaddy news website report said. He turned 65 in April.
Min Aung Hlaing assumed the post of commander-in-chief in 2011 when the county took steps toward democracy, transitioning from military to civilian rule.
In the Feb. 1 coup, he ousted an elected government led by leader Aung San Suu Kyi and members of her party, the National League for Democracy, calling the results of a general election won by the NLD in November fraudulent.
Since the military takeover, Myanmar's security forces have killed 810 peaceful protestors and other citizens, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a rights group monitoring the situation in the country.
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