Myanmar’s 1st civilian president swears in
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Myanmar’s new President Htin Kyaw (3rd-L), flanked by Vice Presidents Myint Swe (2nd-L) and Henry Van Thio (4th-L), is sworn in by House Speaker Mahn Win Khine Than (1st-L) during a ceremony in the country’s capital, Naypyidaw, March 30, 2016. (Photo by A
Htin Kyaw is officially sworn in as Myanmar’s first democratically-elected civilian president, ending more than five decades of military rule in the country.
According to Press TV, Htin Kyaw, of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), took the oath at the parliament in the capital, Naypyidaw, on Wednesday together with his two vice presidents.
“I, Htin Kyaw, will be loyal to the union and the people of the union,” he said, reading from a written pledge, while repeating after the House Speaker Mann Win Khaing Than. “I will respect this constitution and the laws of the nation.”
The party, whose president is Myanmar’s veteran politician Aung San Suu Kyi, won about 80 percent of the available parliamentary seats last November.
Suu Kyi, however, was herself barred from becoming president because of a constitutional clause that excludes from the position anyone who has a foreign spouse or children. Her two sons are British, as was her late husband.
She has made it clear that 70-year-old Htin Kyaw — a long-time confidante of hers — would be acting as her proxy and that she would be running the government from behind the scenes.
ME
