President of Myanmar
head of state and head of government of Burma
The president of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (Burmese: နိုင်ငံတော်သမ္မတ, MLCTS: nuing ngam tau samma.ta., lit. 'President of the State') is the head of state and head of government of Myanmar. The president chairs the National Defence and Security Council and leads the Union Government (Cabinet), the executive branch of the Myanmar government.
The presidency was established in 1948, when Burma gained its independence from the British Empire. During this period, the president was the ceremonial head of state while prime minister is the actual head of government. The presidency was abolished following the 1962 coup d'etat, when Ne Win assumed the powers of both head of state and head of government as the Chairman of the Revolutionary Council and the Revolutionary Government. The 1974 Constitution reintroduced the presidency, to be held by the Chairman of the Council of State. The 1988 coup d'etat again led to the presidency's abolishment, with the Chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (reconstituted in 1997 as the State Peace and Development Council) assuming the functions of the head of state.
The 2008 Constitution introduced a presidential system, where the president is both the head of state and government. Thein Sein assumed the presidency in 2011. After the 2015 election, the extraconstitutional post of State Counsellor of Myanmar was created for Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the majority party, the National League for Democracy, because she was ineligible for the presidency.
The public source identifies “President of Myanmar” as head of state and head of government of Burma. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around President, Myanmar and head.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “President of Myanmar”, the useful work is to connect “head of state and head of government of Burma” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q887124. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1948, 1962, 1974 and 1988.
Later summaries often reconcile disputed chronology or motive more neatly than the contemporary record permits. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.
- Event chronology
- Institutional context
- Locating named record creators
Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “President of Myanmar”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow President of Myanmar primary sources, President of Myanmar archive and President research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “President of Myanmar”?
- Who created the surviving record, and for what administrative purpose?
- What chronology connects this entry to wider political or social change?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “President of Myanmar” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.