Suu Kyi given Myanmar cabinet position

59 minutes ago

Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy (NLD) party won historic elections in Myanmar in November, has been given a place in the new cabinet.
Her name was on a list of 18 cabinet members submitted to parliament by President-elect Htin Kyaw.

The list contains only names, and their ministries will be revealed later.
But the BBC's Jonah Fisher in Yangon says Ms Suu Kyi will head up foreign affairs, energy, education and be minister in the president's office.

There are no other women appointed to the cabinet, he adds.

'Suu Kyi's victory'
Myanmar's constitution, drafted by the outgoing military rulers, prevents Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president because her two sons have British passports.
President-elect Htin Kyaw is her close ally, and she previously said that she would be "above the president" anyway, governing through a proxy.

Our correspondent says the cabinet announcement came as a surprise. Having been barred from the presidency, many had assumed that Ms Suu Kyi would control Myanmar's new government from the outside, he adds.

Fifteen of the names on the list were chosen by Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate and former political prisoner, and three by the commander-in-chief of the army.

Parliament is expected to vote later in the week to confirm the posts.

After his election last week, Htin Kyaw said his appointment was "Aung San Suu Kyi's victory".

The NLD has a huge majority in both houses of parliament, despite the military occupying 25% of seats, so the candidate it backed was all but guaranteed to win.

Despite weeks of negotiation prior to the vote in parliament, the NLD was unable to persuade the military to remove or suspend the clause that prevented Ms Suu Kyi taking office.

Suu Kyi given Myanmar cabinet position - BBC News

Still should be weary of the so-called new situation engulfing Burma.

Surface shite. Pure Asian rhetoric.
Nasty underbelly rules the roost.

Historically, very similar to a Thai approach.
Call it this and that, yet remains the same old club.

That is the least they could have done for her.

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Myanmar's constitution, drafted by the outgoing military rulers, prevents Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president because her two sons have British passports.

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If that hadn't worked, they were going to prevent anyone being President if they have a dog called Tai Chi Toe, which is also perfectly reasonable.

Myanmar finance minister nominee Kyaw Win has fake degree
23 March 2016


The man proposed as Myanmar's new finance and planning minister has a fake degree in finance, it has emerged.
Kyaw Win admitted buying the bogus PhD from a fictitious online university - Brooklyn Park in the US - which sold fake qualifications from Pakistan.

He was caught when the National League for Democracy party, which is forming the new government, made his CV public.
It remains to be seen if Kyaw Win remains on the list of cabinet ministers to take office next week.

A party spokesman told the BBC that the fake degree did not matter.

Confronted by the Myanmar Times newspaper, Kyaw Win admitted the degree was fake.
"I am not going to call myself 'Dr' any more, as I know now that it is a fake university. The PhD on my CV is not a real qualification," he told the newspaper.

A BBC check found the title still on his LinkedIn page, reports the BBC's Jonah Fisher.

Kyaw Win wrote a number of articles on economics and finance using his fake title.

Our correspondent says if the former civil servant is confirmed as minister, he will be responsible for a huge budget and his honesty and accuracy will be vital to the smooth running of Aung San Suu Kyi's new government in Myanmar, also called Burma.

Brooklyn Park University was among some 370 academic websites exposed as bogus last year by the New York Times which traced tens of millions of dollars in estimated revenue from fake degrees back to Pakistan.
Myanmar finance minister nominee Kyaw Win has fake degree - BBC News