Aung San Suu Kyi’s Party Puts Loyalist in Line for Myanmar President

Parliamentary members of the National League for Democracy awaiting their party’s nominations for the government’s top posts on Thursday in Naypyidaw, Myanmar. Credit Lauren Decicca/Getty Images        

International New York Times | 

NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar — The party of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement, named a longtime party loyalist on Thursday as the country’s likely next president, and a party official reiterated that he would answer to Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi while in office.

U Htin Kyaw, 69, was nominated by the National League for Democracy, which controls both houses of Myanmar’s new Parliament after its sweeping victory in November elections. The party nominated two candidates, one of whom is expected to become vice president; U Tun Tun Hein, a member of the party’s central executive committee, said Mr. Htin Kyaw was the party’s choice for the presidency, and he confirmed Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s earlier assertion that the president would essentially be her subordinate.

“She will hold the post handling three institutions: the government, the Parliament and the party,” Mr. Tun Tun Hein said. Alluding to the military dictatorships of Myanmar’s recent past, he added, “If there was once the senior general in the country, she will be the senior president.”

U Htin Kyaw, 69, one of two candidates put forward Thursday by the National League for Democracy. He is expected to be president, while the other becomes a vice president. Credit Aung Shine Oo/Associated Press

Under Myanmar’s indirect presidential election system, the Parliament is expected to choose a president and two vice presidents from among five candidates over the next week, about two weeks before the winners are to take office. The National League for Democracy’s majority of about 60 percent in both houses means that its two candidates are certain to be elected president and vice president; the other vice president will be a candidate chosen by the military, which guaranteed itself a significant role in government when it created Myanmar’s current Constitution.

In a speech to members of Parliament after the nominations, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi acknowledged that the next president would be Mr. Htin Kyaw, referring to his work for the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation, a charity she established in 2012 to improve health, education and living standards in underdeveloped parts of the country.

“I believe people will like today’s candidates,” she said. The speech was closed to journalists, but her comments could be heard outside the meeting room.

The new president will replace U Thein Sein, a former general who oversaw a gradual reduction in military control and the increasing democratization of Myanmar, also known as Burma, after decades of outright military rule.

Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate who spent 15 of 21 years under house arrest, is by far the country’s most popular politician, but she is barred by the Constitution from serving as president because her two sons have foreign citizenship, as did her late husband.

Before the parliamentary session, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi released an open letter calling on people to support the election process and to be patient even though they might be disappointed that she would not be president. “This is a very important time for the country,” she said.

During the election campaign last year, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi dismissed concern over her role in the new government, saying that she would be “above the president.” After her party’s landslide victory, she negotiated unsuccessfully with the military to set aside the constitutional ban so she could assume the office. The military’s parliamentary delegation has the votes to block any changes to the Constitution.

It is unclear whether Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, who is a member of Parliament, will take on a different role or title when the new government takes over.

Mr. Htin Kyaw, a former director in the Ministry of Trade, went to school with Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi. His late father was a famous writer and poet, Min Thu Wun, who was also a prominent figure in the National League for Democracy. Mr. Htin Kyaw’s late father-in-law, U Lwin, was a co-founder of the party, and his wife, Daw Su Su Lwin, is a member of Parliament.

Two candidates were nominated Thursday by the minority Union Solidarity Development Party. A candidate from the military faction — a constitutionally guaranteed 25 percent of Parliament — has yet to be named.

The National League for Democracy’s other nominee Thursday was U Henry Van Thio, 58, an ethnic Chin member of Parliament, who is expected to become vice president. He is something of an anomaly as a Christian in a largely Buddhist nation and a former army major in a political party that has sought to wrest power from the military.

Mr. Henry Van Thio’s presence in high office could help the new government settle continuing armed conflicts with various ethnic groups. Party leaders have said they expect to encounter numerous difficulties as they seek to form a new administration and exert civilian control over the executive branch after a half-century of military leadership.