President Htin Kyaw quits ‘due to ill health’

YANGON: Myanmar President Htin Kyaw resigned yesterday, according to a statement posted on the official Facebook page of the President’s Office, in a move believed prompted by ill health.

The official statement in the Myanmar language said “the President of the Union of Myanmar, U Htin Kyaw, has resigned from his post effective today March 21, as he would like to retire from his current duties”.

No further reason has been given for the resignation of Htin Kyaw, a civilian, from the largely ceremonial post.

Htin Kyaw, a close friend of Myanmar’s de facto leader and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, became president in March 2016 following the National League for Democracy’s landslide election victory in November 2015.

Htin Kyaw’s health has been deteriorating since he underwent, according to a Predident’s Office statement at the time, surgery in September in Bangkok following discovery of a polyp in his colon. He also received brief medical treatment during an official visit to Japan last December.

Ms Suu Kyi chose Htin Kyaw as a presidential candidate because Myanmar’s Constitution — drafted and approved in 2008 during military rule — barred her from becoming president because she was married to a foreigner and has two sons with British citizenship.

Htin Kyaw, a former civil servant with a humble low-profile character, later created the special position of State Counsellor for Suu Kyi and transferred virtually all his authority to her so she could run the country as leader.

The procedure to fill the vacant post of president within seven working days will be implemented in accordance with the constitution of Myanmar, the presidential office statement said.

Myint Swe, a former army general, has become the acting president as he received the second most votes in the 2016 presidential election.

Myanmar has two vice presidents, and Myint Swe was the senior of the two by virtue of finishing second in the 2016 presidential election.