11 March 2016•Update: 18 March 2016
By Kyaw Ye Lynn
YANGON, Myanmar
Two nominees from Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) have been confirmed as candidates for the Myanmar presidency following a vote by both houses of parliament Friday.
Htin Kyaw, the executive of a non-profit charity organization who is known as Suu Kyi’s "right-hand man", won the lower house vote by more than 85 percent, while Henry Van Thio, an ethnic Chin Christian MP, won that of the upper house.
After defeating their rivals from the former ruling party -- the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) -- by a landslide in capital Nay Pyi Taw, they are now set to compete with a military-appointed candidate for the presidency.
Military-appointed MPs -- who hold 25 percent of seats in parliament -- revealed Friday that they had nominated an ex-general widely believed to be a trusted confidant of retired military dictator Than Shwe, who ruled the country under an authoritarian system for decades.
Myint Swe, current chief minister of the Yangon region, is believed to have been behind a crackdown in 2007 on peaceful protestors, including Buddhist monks, in commercial capital Yangon.
All three candidates will be vetted by a scrutiny committee, whose seven members were announced Thursday.
A mass vote by both houses March 15 will see one candidate become president, while the other two become vice presidents.
Htin Kyaw, who defeated outgoing vice president Sai Mauk Khan on Friday, is highly tipped to take the presidential post in the new government set to take power on April 1.
Suu Kyi -- who is banned from taking the top post by article 59 (f) of the military-drafted constitution -- had not attended Thursday’s parliament session when the nominations occurred, but did cast a vote in the lower house Friday.
Many suspect the clause is aimed solely at the Nobel Peace laureate, as it bars anyone with foreign relatives -- Suu Kyi’s late husband was British, as are her two sons -- from becoming president.
Suu Kyi, however, has said she will rule the country from "above the president".
The NLD's Min Thu told Anadolu Agency on Thursday that "Htin Kyaw will probably be elected president as he is good in dealing with international community."
"And he is honest, and one of Daw Suu’s trusted right-hand men," he added.
Daw, meaning "aunt", is not part of Suu Kyi's name but is a Myanmar honorific for anyone older or revered.
