Myanmar junta chief nominated for presidential vote

Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing was nominated by a lawmaker on Monday for a parliamentary vote that will select the new president of the war-torn Southeast Asian nation, as the powerful veteran general seeks a political role.

Min Aung Hlaing, who currently also serves as Myanmar's military chief, was one of two people named as vice-presidential candidates by lawmakers from the country's newly-convened lower house of parliament, reports Reuters.

The country's upper house will nominate another vice-presidential candidate, with a president selected from the three in a subsequent bicameral vote, the date of which has not been announced.

The move comes after a controversial election held amid raging conflict in December and January, won by the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party but widely derided as a sham by the United Nations and many Western countries.