Kyaw joined by Myint Swe and Henry Van Thio as vice-presidents
On March 15, 2016, Myanmar’s parliament elected Htin Kyaw as the first non-military president in 50 years. Kyaw is a close ally of Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate, and the leader of Myanmar’s National League of Democracy (NLD) party.
Last week, the NLD announced that Suu Kyi would most definitely not be the next president of Myanmar. Suu Kyi is constitutionally barred from holding the office of the president.
Instead, the party put forward two candidates that are supporters of Suu Kyi. President-elect Kyaw, a 70-year-old Oxford graduate, was one of these candidates.
In spite of President-elect Kyaw’s nomination, Suu Kyi has vowed to be the leader behind the curtain. Suu Kyi has the support of her party, which will be the first democratically elected government in more than half a century.
[pullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]…Suu Kyi fought for decades to end the dictatorial rule of Myanmar.[/pullquote]
The announcement comes after weeks of closed doors meetings with the country’s most powerful military leaders and generals, which focused on suspending a constitutional clause that bars Suu Kyi from the presidency—something that has been her ambition for some time.
Suu Kyi, a former political prisoner, led her party to a massive win in during the country’s November 2015 general election, leading the way for the Southeast Asian country’s first democratically elected government since the military regime took power in 1962.
As the unquestioned leader of the NLD, Suu Kyi fought for decades to end the dictatorial rule of Myanmar. Her efforts remain relevant to this day. Even while under house arrest, where she spent 15 years locked up due to her political popularity, Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.
Though Suu Kyi has a huge following and a majority support from the voting public, the 70-year-old is blocked from the presidency thanks to the constitution, which bars anyone with either a foreign spouse or foreign children from holding the executive office. With both of her sons being British-born and, her late husband also being British, Suu Kyi was deemed ineligible for presidential office. The constitutional amendment that prevents Suu Kyi from the role is widely seen as having been written by the military with her in mind.
Though the other parties involved—like the outgoing Union Solidarity and Development Party and the military bloc—were able to nominate candidates for the position of president, the NLD’s candidates were assured of a victory thanks to the party’s control of both chambers.
However, President-elect Kyaw will be joined by Vice-President-elect Myint Swe, a former general who is affiliated with the outgoing junta, and Vice-President-elect Henry Van Thio.
The situation may seem odd to outsiders, or to those critical of the Myanmar political system, but the public seem to be quite supportive. They understand that Suu Kyi cannot legally be president, but would not have anyone else in charge, especially after all the work she has done to get the country to the place it is today.