A childhood friend of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi was elected on Tuesday as Myanmar’s new president, a major step for a country ruled or partially ruled by the military for more than half a century.
Htin Kyaw, 69, the first civilian to hold the presidency, was selected by lawmakers in Myanmar’s capital, Naypyitaw, following parliamentary elections in November in which Suu Kyi’s pro-democracy opposition party won by a landslide.
READ MORE: Suu Kyi’s close aide picked in historic vote for Myanmar’s next president
“This is a victory for the people of this country,” Htin Kyaw told reporters in brief remarks.
Htin Kyaw is expected to take direction from Suu Kyi, who said before the November election that she would hold a position “above the president” if her National League of Democracy party won a majority. The former military junta barred Suu Kyi, a former political prisoner, from ascending to the country’s highest office by instituting a law disqualifying anyone with foreign family members. Suu Kyi’s late husband was British.
“He will be a most obedient servant for Aung San Suu Kyi,” Robert San Aung, a human rights lawyer, said by phone from Yangon.
Htin Kyaw, a member of the NLD executive committee, was hardly a household name in Myanmar, and even after his selection, news outlets were struggling to confirm pieces of his biography.
