Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services

The commander-in-chief of defence services (Burmese: တပ်မတော်ကာကွယ်ရေးဦးစီးချုပ်, romanized:Tatmadaw Kakweyay Uzigyoke) is the supreme commander of the Tatmadaw, the armed forces of Myanmar. The Tatmadaw is an independent branch of government under control of the commander-in-chief and not answerable to the president of Myanmar, though certain actions of the commander-in-chief require the approval of the National Defence and Security Council (NDSC), which is chaired by the president. According to the 2008 Constitution of Myanmar, the commander-in-chief is appointed by the president upon nomination by the NDSC; the commander-in-chief is also a member of the NDSC.

The Constitution frames the commander-in-chief as an expressly political office, stating he "participates in the national political leadership role of the state". Accordingly, he has expansive governance powers under the Constitution, including the ability to appoint the leadership of the Home, Border, and Defence ministries, the right to appoint 25% of the members of both houses of the Assembly of the Union (which appoints the president), the ability to initiate impeachment proceedings against the president, as well as having effective voting control on the NDSC. One of the most significant executive powers retained by the president is discretion in calling meetings of the NDSC. Article 418 of the 2008 Constitution allows the Commander-in-Chief broad authority over the government if the president declares a state of emergency in coordination with the NDSC. This happened after the 2021 coup d'état: military-installed acting president Myint Swe declared a state of emergency and transferred power to Commander-in-Chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who then formed a military junta—the State Administration Council.

The current Commander-in-Chief is General Ye Win Oo, since 30 March 2026.

List of commanders-in-chief

Timeline

Notes