Myanmar junta boss not nominated for presidency
Myanmar's junta supremo Senior General Than Shwe inspects an honour guard during an official welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in this September 8, 2010 file photo. Credit: Reuters/Petar Kujundzic/Files
By Aung Hla Tun
NAYPYITAW, Myanmar | Tue Feb 1, 2011 5:21pm IST
NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (Reuters) - Myanmar's reclusive paramount leader Than Shwe is not among a list of presidential candidates to be nominated by parliament, lawmakers said on Tuesday, signalling an end to his 18 years of direct rule.
Myanmar's new parliament is expected to vote on Thursday to elect the country's first civilian president after nearly half a century of military rule. Assembly members told Reuters that the 78-year-old military strongman's name was not among five candidates for the post. His decision not to run will come as a surprise to many within the armed forces, who are rarely privy to the general's thinking.
But the junta chief is unlikely to fade away and is likely to have chosen the president himself by ensuring his own preferred candidate was among those picked by legislators on Tuesday. Than Shwe is expected to either remain in charge of the military or to take a significant behind-the-scenes political role in the resource-rich country formerly known as Burma.
Most expect the presidency to go to the current prime minister, Thein Sein, the military junta's fourth in command, indicating a continuation of the status quo. "In reality, as long as Than Shwe remains commander-in-chief, he will still be more powerful than the president," said Aung Naing Oo, a Burmese academic and deputy director of the Thailand-based advocacy group, the Vahu Development Institute.
"He's always had a clear strategy, a choreographed, well-orchestrated plan and he won't slip up now. He'll ensure the security of himself and his family and he has chosen a 'yes' man for president whom he has 100 percent confidence in."
The election of a president is a priority for Myanmar's first elected parliament in half a century as it convenes this week in the capital, Naypyitaw, following the first polls in two decades on Nov. 7, a poll widely criticised as a sham.
WEAK OPPOSITION
The names of candidates were given to Reuters by members of the senate, lower house and from among military-appointed parliamentarians on condition their names be withheld because they could faced jail if found to have spoken to the media.
Pro-democracy forces have little voice in the process. Both the lower and upper houses are dominated by the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), a proxy for the military government which swept the election.
A lower house representative said a committee comprised of its members had agreed to nominate Thein Sein, or an ethnic Karen politician, Saw Thein Aung. An army-appointed assembly member said the junta's fifth-in-command, Tin Aung Myint Oo, would be nominated.
A senate legislator said members of the house had agreed on two presidential candidates -- either Aye Maung, leader of the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party, or Sai Mo Kham, a member of the army-backed USDP.
It was not known whether Than Shwe's long-time deputy, Maung Aye, would play a future role. The junta's third-in-command, Thura Shwe Mann, was elected lower house speaker on Monday. The candidate with most votes from three special legislative committees will become president for a five-year term and the two unsuccessful nominees will serve as vice-presidents.
The Vahu Development Institute's Aung Naing Oo tipped Thein Sein for the presidency because he would be agreeable to all parties within the military. He has a clean image, is not from a particular faction and has no significant business interests, he added. "Thein Sein is the safest bet for Than Shwe and for the military's hold on power," he said. "Than Shwe has picked a horse he knows will win."
(Writing and additional reporting by Martin Petty; Editing by Jason Szep)
