Reclusive Burmese leader Than Shwe is not among a list of presidential candidates to be nominated by parliament, signalling an end to his 18 years of direct rule.
The new parliament in Burma, officially known as Myanmar, is expected to vote on Thursday to elect the country's first civilian president after nearly half a century of military rule.
Assembly members told Reuters that the 78-year-old's name was not among five candidates for the post.
His decision not to run will come as a surprise to many within the armed forces, who are rarely privy to the general's thinking.
But the junta chief is unlikely to fade away and is likely to have chosen the president himself by ensuring his own preferred candidate was among those picked by legislators.
Than Shwe is expected to either remain in charge of the military, or to take a significant behind-the-scenes political role in the resource-rich country.
Most expect the presidency to go to the current prime minister, Thein Sein, the military junta's fourth in command, indicating a continuation of the status quo.
The election of a president is a priority for Burma's first elected parliament in half a century as it convenes this week in the capital, Naypyitaw, following the first polls in two decades on 7 November, a poll widely criticised as a sham.
The names of candidates were given to Reuters by members of the senate, lower house and from among military-appointed parliamentarians on condition their names be withheld because they could face jail if found to have spoken to the media.
Pro-democracy forces have little voice in the process. Both the lower and upper houses are dominated by the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), a proxy for the military government that swept the election.
A lower house representative said a committee comprised of its members had agreed to nominate Thein Sein, or an ethnic Karen politician, Saw Thein Aung.
An army-appointed assembly member said the junta's fifth-in-command, Tin Aung Myint Oo, would be nominated.
A senate legislator said members of the house had agreed on two presidential candidates - either Aye Maung, leader of the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party, or Sai Mo Kham, a member of the army-backed USDP.
It was not known whether Than Shwe's long-time deputy, Maung Aye, would play a future role. The junta's third-in-command, Thura Shwe Mann, was elected lower house speaker yesterday.
The candidate with most votes from three special legislative committees will become president for a five-year term and the two unsuccessful nominees will serve as vice-presidents.
