Tears as Myanmar swears in first president with no army ties in more than 50 years

Myanmar’s parliament swore in the first president with no military ties in more than half a century on Wednesday, after Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) swept to power following a landslide election win in November. Htin Kyaw, a close friend and confidant of the Nobel peace prize laureate, was hand-picked by her to run Myanmar’s government because a constitution drafted by the former junta bars the democracy champion from the top office. Relations between the armed forces and Suu Kyi will define the success of Myanmar’s most significant break from military rule since the army seized power in 1962.

I couldn’t sleep last night. Our president U Htin Kyaw’s speech is something we have never heard before in the country.

NLD lawmaker Thiri Yadana

In a short address to the chamber, Htin Kyaw reiterated Suu Kyi’s stance on the importance of changing the 2008 charter, which entrenches the military’s powerful position in politics, and called for national reconciliation. NLD lawmakers were emotional at the scale of the achievement after decades of struggle, including years when many of them were jailed or, like Suu Kyi herself, put under house arrest. The armed forces are guaranteed three ministries and control a quarter of parliamentary seats - enough to give them a veto over constitutional amendments and potentially limit the scope of Suu Kyi’s reforms. Suu Kyi is poised to steer the government from within, acting as a super-minister overseeing education, foreign affairs, electric power and energy - and the president’s office.

Our new government will implement national reconciliation, peace in the country, emergence of a constitution that will pave the way to a democratic union, and enhance the living standard of the people.

Htin Kyaw