A meeting of the NDSC can only be called by the president, which was never done during the National League for Democracy's 2016–2021 time in power.[1] After President Win Myint refused to call a meeting of the NDSC to address the Tatmadaw’s baseless allegations of massive voter fraud in the 2020 general election, the Tatmadaw under the leadership of Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing executed a coup on 1 February 2021, removing Win Myint and installing Myint Swe as Acting President so he could call a meeting of the NDSC and transfer state power to Min Aung Hlaing. The NDSC has since continued to serve as the purported basis of legitimacy for Min Aung Hlaing’s military dictatorship.[9]
The NDSC's constitutionally enshrined roles include expansive powers:
Recommend pardonees for the President to grant amnesty[7][10]
Approve the President's act of severing foreign diplomatic relations[7]
Coordinate with the President to take military action against aggressors[7]
Approve the Tatmadaw's ability to conscript citizens[7]
^ abSlow, Oliver (2023). Return of the junta: why Myanmar's military must go back to the barracks. London New York Oxford New Delhi Sydney: Bloomsbury Academic. p. 11. ISBN978-1-350-28965-9.
^Kipgen, Nehginpao (April 2016). "Militarization of Politics in Myanmar and Thailand". International Studies. 53 (2): 153–172. doi:10.1177/0020881717728156.
