Min Aung Hlaing, who as Myanmar’s military commander had led the Southeast Asian nation with an iron fist since seizing power from Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government in 2021, was sworn in as an elected president on Friday.

His inauguration came after a general election judged by UN experts and rights groups to be neither free nor fair, with Suu Kyi’s popular National League for Democracy party among many not taking part. He faces the major challenge of ending the civil war that began when Suu Kyi’s ouster from power met with armed resistance.