Suu Kyi’s trusted friend installed as Myanmar president

NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (AP) — Htin Kyaw, a trusted friend of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, took over as Myanmar’s president Wednesday, calling it a “historic moment” in the country’s long-drawn transition to democracy after decades of military rule.

In a day full of ceremony and symbolism, Htin Kyaw was sworn in along with his two vice presidents and 18-member Cabinet that includes Suu Kyi in an austere hall of parliament with lawmakers dressed in traditional costume.

While a momentous day in the history of this impoverished Southeast Asian country, democracy still feels incomplete.

The military retains considerable power in the government and parliament, and the president himself will play second fiddle to Suu Kyi, who has repeatedly said she will run the country from behind the scenes because the military has ensured — through a constitutional manipulation — that she cannot be the president.

Still the day belonged to Htin Kyaw — and Suu Kyi — who sat in the front row watching her confidant become head of a government she had long aspired to lead.

“The Union Parliament has elected me as president, which is a historic moment for this country,” Htin Kyaw, 70, said in his speech after being sworn in. He pledged to work toward national reconciliation, peace between warring ethnic groups and improving the lives of the country’s 54 million people.

Rightfully, the job belonged to Suu Kyi, who led her National League for Democracy party to a landslide win in November elections, ushering in Myanmar’s first civilian government after 54 years of direct and indirect military rule.

Suu Kyi who has been the face of Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement endured decades of house arrest and harassment by military rulers without ever giving up on her non-violent campaign to unseat them. The constitutional clause that denied her the presidency excludes anyone from the position who has a foreign spouse or children. Suu Kyi’s two sons are British, as was her late husband. The clause is widely seen as having been written by the military with Suu Kyi in mind.