Myanmar’s military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has resigned to contest in the country’s upcoming presidential election. The announcement came on Monday in Naypyidaw, where Hlaing formally handed over his position as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to General Ye Win Oo, an experienced officer. Ye Win Oo, who was appointed intelligence chief in 2020, was promoted earlier this month to lead the military.

On the same day, Myanmar’s newly elected lower house of parliament nominated two vice-presidential candidates, including Hlaing. The upper house will nominate another candidate, and the combined parliament will later vote to elect one of the three as president. The date for the vote has not yet been announced.

The election, held under military control, was the first since the 2021 coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s government and triggered civil war. The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party won a majority, though the United Nations and several Western countries have dismissed the polls as a sham.