Burma has held the inauguration ceremony for its new president. Aung San Suu Kyi is Foreign Minister. A specially created role has also been devised for her.
Burma (Myanmar) has held the inauguration ceremony for its new president. On 30 March, U Htin Kyaw, a long-standing friend and political ally of Aung San Suu Kyi, was sworn in as Burma's first civilian president in fifty years. On the same day, the Lady, leader of the Burmese democracy movement and president of the National League for Democracy (NLD), the country's ruling party, was appointed the new Foreign Minister.
Under the 2008 constitution, Aung San Suu Kyi could not be elected president. The document drawn up by the military states that citizens with foreign family members cannot hold the highest office in the state, and the Lady has two British sons. Nevertheless, the democratic leader has never concealed her desire to lead the new government from behind the scenes. For this reason, and also in light of the results of the elections last November, a new role has been specially created for her: state counsellor.
In addition to being appointed Foreign Minister, Aung San Suu Kyi will head the presidential office, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Electricity and Energy. The role of state counsellor does not yet exist in Myanmar, but in the coming weeks a draft of the legislative act that will make it fully official will be presented to parliament. The role, which will give Aung San Suu Kyi effective power over the main affairs of government, is similar to that of prime minister in other countries.
In the new government, the armed forces, which hold a quarter of parliamentary seats, will head three important ministries: Defence, Home Affairs and Border Affairs.
"Our new government will bring about national reconciliation, peace in the country, the birth of a constitution that will pave the way for a democratic union and an improvement in the living standards of the population," said Myanmar's new president during his parliamentary oath of office.
Underlining the government's priority of amending the constitution to make it more democratic, U Htin Kyaw confirmed that the administration is bound to Aung San Suu Kyi's decade-long movement and respects her leadership. The new Burmese government officially took office on 1 April.
Translated by Francesca Clemente