Myanmar to select president

A vendor displays various shirts bearing the portrait of Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi with slogans "freedom to lead" and "our leader" at the headquarters of the National League for Democracy party in Yangon on Thursday. Photo: AFP The pragmatic approach of Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party is conducive to future Sino-Myanmar ties, analysts said Thursday as Myanmar is poised to select its first democratically elected president after decades of military rule. The NLD on Thursday named a longtime aide to Aung San Suu Kyi as the country's likely next president. U Htin Kyaw, 69, a close advisor to Aung San Suu Kyi, was formally named as a candidate during a session of the lower house. Under Myanmar's election system, three presidential candidates are nominated respectively by the two houses and the military. After the candidates have been vetted by a parliamentary commission, both houses will come together to vote in a joint session, with the winner elected president and the two losing nominees becoming vice presidents. Because the NLD has a comfortable majority in both chambers it effectively controls two of the nominations. The NLD also nominated Henry Van Thio, a member of the Chin ethnic group from Chin state, in the country's northwest bordering India and Bangladesh, as its candidate from the upper house. Aung San Suu Kyi is banned from running for president by Myanmar's constitution as her sons hold British passports. She previously said she would be "above the president" if her party won the election. "The NLD led by Suu Kyi so far has adopted a pragmatic approach in handling relations with neighboring countries like China," Zhuang Guotu, head of the Center of Southeast Asian Studies at Xiamen University told the Global Times on Thursday. "A pragmatic approach" includes recognition of China's importance in Myanmar's foreign relations as well as in providing substantial help, especially in terms of economic development, Zhuang said. He also noted the future relationship between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will have more influence on China's ties with Myanmar. "After the new government takes office, Myanmar will increasingly integrate into ASEAN, which is to say the new government will handle many issues involved in China-Myanmar relations based on the overall stance of ASEAN," Zhuang said. While the future of China-Myanmar relations is overall positive, many "potential unstable factors" in China-ASEAN relations, such as the South China Sea issue and the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, may impact the relationship between China and Myanmar, according to Zhuang. Confident future Regarding the China-Myanmar friendship as "strong and dynamic," China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi told media on Tuesday that China has "every confidence" about "Myanmar's future" and "the future of China-Myanmar relations." When asked about the prospects of the Myitsone Dam project which is jointly invested by China and Myanmar, Wang admitted that "there are some difficulties in the cooperation" and stressed that "these are 'growing pains' which the two sides will continue to manage in an active and appropriate way." Commencing in December 2009, the construction of the Myitsone Dam project was suspended in 2011 after opposition from local residents, conservationists, scholars and political activists. With an installed capacity of 6,000 megawatts, the hydropower project is estimated to yield 29,400 million kilowatt-hours a year on completion. On Wednesday, Hantha Myint, head of the NLD's economics committee, was quoted by AFP as saying that "a potential redesign of the multi-billion dollar Myitsone hydropower project in northern Kachin state was on the cards." "A government led by Aung San Suu Kyi would be more likely to restart [many cooperation projects between the two countries], as she knows the value of such projects for Myanmar," Zhuang said. Stabilizing the north Peace and stability in northern Myanmar is likely to top the agenda for the new government, experts said. In January, the first Myanmar Union Peace Conference, held in the country's capital Nay Pyi Taw, failed to reach any agreement. Eight ethnic groups joined the conference, the Xinhua News Agency reported. In general, the policy direction of the NLD is clear and helpful to solve the country's ethnic minority issue, said He Shengda, an expert on Southeast Asian affairs at the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences. Peace and stability in northern Myanmar would help resume the suspended Chinese investments in this region, which consequently could benefit China-Myanmar relations, according to He.