On Tuesday, Myanmar's parliament elected Htin Kyaw as the country's first civilian president in more than five decades. The lower house had nominated Htin Kyaw, a 70-year-old writer and longtime ally and confidant of Aung San Suu Kyi, the democracy advocate whose National League for Democracy (NLD) won big majorities in both houses of parliament in historic November elections. Suu Kyi is barred from the presidency due to a clause in the constitution widely seen as designed specifically to bar her election; she says she will run the country anyway.
Htin Kyaw secured at least 360 of the 652 ballots cast to beat a candidate nominated by the upper house and another one put forward by the military. The military candidate, Myint Swe, came in second with 213 votes and will be first vice president. The third candidate, Henry Van Tio, a member of the NLD like Htin Kyaw, will become second vice president. Htin Kyaw will be sworn in April 1, replacing Thein Sein.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Book reviews: ‘Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism, and the Making of Modern America’ and ‘How to End a Story: Collected Diaries, 1978–1998’Feature A political ‘witch hunt’ and Helen Garner’s journal entries
-
The backlash against ChatGPT's Studio Ghibli filterThe Explainer The studio's charming style has become part of a nebulous social media trend
-
Why are student loan borrowers falling behind on payments?Today's Big Question Delinquencies surge as the Trump administration upends the program
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditionsSpeed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billionSpeed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on recordSpeed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homesSpeed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creatureSpeed Read
