Htin Kyaw

Htin Kyaw (Burmese: ထင်ေကျာ်, pronounced [tʰ ɪ̀ɴ tɕɔ̀ ] or [tʰ ɪ̀ɴ dʑɔ̀ ]; born 20
His Excellency
July 1946) is a Burmese politician, writer and scholar who served as the 9th
Htin Kyaw
President of Myanmar from 30 March 2016 to 21 March 2018. He was the first
elected president to hold the office with no ties to the military since the 1962 ထင်ေ ကျာ်
coup d'état. The second son of scholar Min Thu Wun, Htin Kyaw had held
various positions in the education, planning and treasury ministries in prior
governments.

The ethnic Mon-Bamar politician is viewed as an important ally of the National

League for Democracy leader and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, who is
constitutionally barred from the presidency.

Contents
Early life and education
Career
Presidency
Personal life
Literary works
Health problems 9th President of Myanmar
References In office
External links 30 March 2016 – 21 March 2018
State Counsellor Aung San Suu
Kyi
Early life and education Vice President Myint Swe
Htin Kyaw was born in Rangoon, British Burma (now Yangon, Myanmar), to the Henry Van Thio
late Burmese scholar and poet Min Thu Wun and Kyi Kyi.[1][2] Preceded by Thein Sein
Htin Kyaw graduated high school from English Methodist High School in 1962. Succeeded by Myint Swe
He enrolled at the Rangoon Institute of Economics (then part of Rangoon Arts (Acting)
and Science University) and graduated with an M.Econ. in statistics in 1968. He Personal details
started working as a teacher while studying towards his master's degree.[3] He
Born 20 July 1946
then moved to the University Computer Centre as a programmer/system analyst
Rangoon, British
in 1970.
Burma (now
Htin Kyaw pursued further studies on a scholarship to the Institute of Computer Yangon, Myanmar)

Science, University of London in 1971–1972 and attended computer studies in Political party National League
Asia Electronics Union, Tokyo in 1974. He completed his second master's for Democracy
degree in 1975.[1][4] He attended Hult International Business School (then
Spouse(s) Su Su Lwin
known as the Arthur D. Little School of Management), in Cambridge, (m. 1973)
Massachusetts, in 1987.[5][6]
Parents Min Thu Wun
Career (father)
Kyi Kyi (mother)
In 1975, Htin Kyaw joined the Ministry of Industry 2 as a Deputy Division
Alma mater Yangon Institute
Chief.[7] In 1980, he was appointed as a Deputy Director in the Foreign
of Economics
Economic Relations Department, Ministry of Planning and Finance, and
University of
resigned from government service in 1992.[1]
London
He was arrested on 22 September 2000, and spent four months in Insein prison Hult International
for assisting Aung San Suu Kyi's trip outside Yangon.[8] From 2012, he worked Business School
as a senior executive for Daw Khin Kyi Foundation, founded by Aung San Suu Website Government
Kyi and named after her mother Khin Kyi. Though not a veteran member of the website (http://m
NLD, Kyaw worked very closely with Aung San Suu Kyi at the Office of NLD yanmarpresident
Chairperson. office.info/en)

He was mentioned as a possible presidential pick after the NLD won a sweeping
victory in the 2015 general election. Aung San Suu Kyi was constitutionally
barred from the presidency, since her late husband and both of her children are
British citizens; the constitution does not allow a president, his parents, his
spouse, or his children to "owe allegiance to a foreign power." Upon his
nomination, Aung San Suu Kyi said she had chosen him for his truthfulness,
loyalty and respectable education.[9][10][11]

Presidency
On 10 March 2016, he was nominated as one of the Vice Presidents of Myanmar
by the NLD for the House of Representatives (Lower House). On 11 March
2016, 274 MPs out of 317 (during Elected MPs assembly) voted him as one of
the Vice Presidents. On 15 March 2016, 360 MPs out of 652 of the Assembly of
the Union (Union Parliament) voted him as the President, ahead of Myint Swe
and his party colleague Henry Van Thio.[12][13]

On 17 March 2016, Htin Kyaw proposed a cabinet of 21 ministries.[14] On 21 Htin Kyaw with his father Min Thu
March 2016, he delivered a speech in the Assembly of the Union for the first Wun in 1952
time regarding the proposal of the formation of ministries and the MPs of the
Union Parliament approved it.[15]

On 30 March 2016, Htin Kyaw was sworn in as President of Myanmar,

becoming the first president since U Nu's overthrow in 1962 to have no ties to
the military. Despite Htin Kyaw being a nominally independent leader, Aung
San Suu Kyi said that she would in fact direct the actions of the president and
lead the country through him. It was thought before the elections that Aung San
Suu Kyi would "be above the president” and make all key decisions.[16] Indeed, Htin Kyaw and Pranab Mukherjee in
the post of State Counsellor–equivalent to a Prime Minister–was created for her. New Delhi

On 21 March 2018, amid speculations of ill health, it was suddenly announced

that Htin Kyaw had resigned from his position as president, citing health issues and the 'need for rest'. Myint Swe, first Vice
President of Myanmar, succeeded Htin Kyaw as President under the constitution of Myanmar, which also called for a new
President to be selected by the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw within seven days of Htin Kyaw's resignation.
Personal life
Htin Kyaw has been married to Su Su Lwin since 1973; she is the incumbent
House of Representatives MP for Thongwa Township and a Member of the
International Relations Committee of the House of Representatives. The couple
have no children.[17]

His father was the famous writer, poet and scholar Min Thu Wun, who won a
seat in the 1990 election. His father-in-law, U Lwin, was a co-founder of the
National League for Democracy.[1][9] He also acted as the secretary of the party
Htin Kyaw and Narendra Modi in
from 1995 to 2010.
Presidential Palace

Literary works
Htin Kyaw writes under the pen name Dala Ban, a prominent title of ancient Mon commanders. He wrote a biographical book
about his father Min Thu Wun: The Father’s Life: Glimpses of my Father (Aba Bawa Aba Akyaung Tase Tasaung).[1] He also
wrote various articles about his family life with his father in weekly journals.

Health problems
Htin Kyaw went to Bangkok in September 2017 to have medical examinations taken and to be given necessary treatment. There
has been speculations about his ill health among people but they were denied by officials. He departed to Singapore on 23
January 2018 to have a medical check-up.[18]

References
1. "Who Is Htin Kyaw, Myanmar's Newly Elected President?" (http://www.voanews.com/content/brief-bio-of-newly-el
ected-myanmar-president-htin-kyaw/3237006.html). VOA.
2. "သမတသစ် ဦးထင်ေကျာ်၏ အစ်ကိ ဦးေကျာ်စိး ှင့် ေတွ ဆ
့ ံြခင်း" (http://7daydaily.com/story/60530). 17 March 2016.
Retrieved 19 March 2016.
3. "◌ျမ ာႏ◌
ိငံရဲ႕ ၉ ဦးေ◌◌ျမာက္ ◌ႏ◌
ိငံေ◌တာ◌
မၼတ" (http://burmese.voanews.com/content/myanmar-new-president-u-
htin-kyaw/3237031.html). ဗီြ◌အိေ◌အ. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
4. "Who is Htin Kyaw, Myanmar's new president?" (http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1925732/
who-htin-kyaw-myanmars-new-president). South China Morning Post. 16 March 2016.
5. "Myanmar's NLD nominates presidential candidate | Kyodo News" (http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2016/03/40
1416.html). english.kyodonews.jp. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
6. "Ex-driver gears up for Myanmar rule but Suu Kyi still at wheel" (https://news.yahoo.com/ex-driver-gears-myanm
ar-rule-suu-kyi-still-060304355.html). Yahoo News. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
7. Ye Mon and Lun Min Mang. "U Htin Kyaw: from computer science grad to NLD loyalist" (http://www.mmtimes.co
m/index.php/national-news/nay-pyi-taw/19423-u-htin-kyaw-from-computer-science-grad-to-nld-loyalist.html).
8. Holmes, Oliver (2016-03-15). "Myanmar parliament elects Htin Kyaw as first civilian president in 53 years" (http
s://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/15/myanmar-parliament-elects-htin-kyaw-as-first-civilian-president-in-5
3-years). The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0261-3077). Retrieved 2016-03-16.
9. Ei Ei Toe Lwin. "Daw Suu eyes foreign minister role" (http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/in-depth/19202-daw-su
u-eyes-foreign-minister-role.html).
10. "NLD Dropped a Name List to Lead Its New Government" (http://www.burmatimes.net/nld-dropped-a-name-list-to
-lead-its-new-government/). The Burma Times.
11. "Myanmar Starts New Parliamentarye Era" (http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/846496/myanmar-starts
-new-parliamentary-era). The Bangkok Post. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
12. "Myanmar elects Htin Kyaw as first civilian president in decades" (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-3580892
1).
13. "Myanmar Lawmakers Name Htin Kyaw President, Affirming Civilian Rule" (https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/16/
world/asia/myanmar-president-htin-kyaw-elected.html). The New York Times. 16 March 2016.
14. "Htinkyaw propose formation of Ministries" (http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/974346.shtml).
15. "Parliament Approves President-Elect's Proposal to Downsize Ministries" (http://www.irrawaddy.com/burma/parlia
ment-approves-president-elects-proposal-downsize-ministries.html).
16. Zin, Min. "Channel_banners_1000px_demlab-r3 (1) Burma's Puppeteer-in-Chief Takes Charge" (https://foreignpo
licy.com/2016/03/12/burmas-puppeteer-in-chief-takes-charge-aung-san-suu-kyi/). Foreign Policy.
17. Ei Ei Toe Lwin. "Who is President U Htin Kyaw?" (http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/national-news/nay-pyi-taw/
19714-who-is-president-u-htin-kyaw.html).
18. "President depart to Singapore" (http://www.7daydaily.com/story/118765).

External links
Media related to Htin Kyaw at Wikimedia Commons

Political offices
Succeeded by
Preceded by President of Myanmar
Myint Swe
Thein Sein 2016–2018
Acting

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Htin_Kyaw&oldid=910759165"

This page was last edited on 14 August 2019, at 07:43 (UTC).

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