Htin Kyaw has been sworn in as Myanmar’s new president after more than five decades of military rule in the country.
Hiten Kyaw
- Myanmar has been under military or military-dominated rule since a coup in 1962, and the elections in November which brought the new government to power were the first openly contested polls since 1990.
- Two vice-presidents, one of them a military nominee, are also due to take the oath of office, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar reported.
- Htin Kyaw takes over from former general Thein Sein, who has led the country since 2011.
- Under Thein Sein, the government set in motion reforms which have opened up the once-isolated country to the outside world, including to foreign investment.
- Htin Kyaw is known among political commentators as a party insider with close ties to Suu Kyi going back many decades, including as one of her classmates at high school in Yangon.
- Born in 1946, the 69-year-old is the son of a famous poet and writer, Min Thu Wan, who ran as an NLD candidate in the 1990 elections.
- Ms. Suu Kyi was appointed as the country’s new minister of foreign affairs.
- Approved by the Union Parliament, the three other ministries to be headed by Ms. Suu Kyi are the Ministry of President Office, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Electricity and Energy.
