Min Aung Hlaing, inaugurated as president in the capital Naypyidaw on April 10 after receiving the most votes by pro-military lawmakers in the legislature, formed an 11-member Union Consultative Council (UCC) under the leadership of regime deputy and former deputy Commander-in-Chief Soe Win on Friday.
“The chairmanship position [of the UCC] is a consolation prize for Soe Win,” a source close to the regime in Naypyidaw told DVB on the condition of anonymity, adding that the UCC has “no [real] power.”
Soe Win transferred his deputy Commander-in-Chief position to the Chief of the General Staff Kyaw Swar Lin on March 30. Maung Maung Aye, the regime’s former defence minister, was appointed as the UCC secretary.
The UCC was established by Min Aung Hlaing on Feb. 3 to advise the new pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP)-led administration, which won a landslide victory in the regime’s 2025-26 elections – called a “sham” by the U.N. and western nations – without any opposition parties on the ballot.
Following his inauguration as president on April 10, Min Aung Hlaing reformed his 11-member National Defence and Security Council (NDSC), which had placed Myanmar under a state of emergency on Feb. 1, 2021 during his military coup when he ousted the democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government and jailed State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint.
Both Aung San Suu Kyi, 80, and Win Myint, 74, have been held in detention by Min Aung Hlaing’s regime for over five years, serving lengthy prison sentences handed down by regime courts.
Under Min Aung Hlaing’s command, the NDSC extended the state of emergency every six months up until July 31, 2025 when it ended and elections were called. Min Aung Hlaing’s regime, established in Naypyidaw after the 2021 coup, held polls from Dec. 28, 2025 to Jan. 25.
Under Myanmar’s 2008 Constitution, the president can declare a state of emergency with consent from the NDSC, which now includes the two vice-presidents Nyo Saw and Nan Ni Ni Aye, as well as the two parliament speakers Aung Lin Dwe and Khin Yi.
The NDSC will also include the Commander-in-Chief Ye Win Oo and his deputy Kyaw Swar Lin, as well as the Minister of Defence Tun Aung, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Tin Maung Swe, the Minister of Home Affairs Nyunt Win Swe, and the Minister of Border Affairs Phone Myat.
On April 10, Aung Lin Dwe formally announced the abolition of Min Aung Hlaing’s newly-named regime, called the “State Security and Peace Commission.”
It was previously known as the “State Administration Council,” which was formed after the 2021 coup and replaced on July 31 once the state of emergency – in place since Feb. 1, 2021 – was lifted.
