The National League for Democracy yesterday denounced as “fake” a widely circulated letter purporting to reveal its choice of proxy president, as speculation over who will take the role reaches fever pitch.
Aung San Suu Kyi and her NLD have kept a tight lid on who they want to become the president of Myanmar’s first popularly elected government in decades, as they navigated the tense four-month political transition.
But with just days to go before they are set to announce their preferences on March 10, a letter purporting to reveal the selection emerged on social media on March 6.
“That statement was not released by the NLD and was just a fake one. We hereby announce that such kind of fabrication is like committing a crime,” the NLD said on its official Facebook account yesterday.
The purported document, which was stamped with an official NLD logo, listed current presidential favourite U Htin Kyaw and ethnic Shan MP U Khun Tun Oo as the party’s nominees for the roles of vice presidents – one of whom would be selected as leader.
Aung San Suu Kyi, who is ineligible, has vowed to rule “above” the next president, meaning that the role would have to go to someone whose absolute loyalty was assured.
As conjecture has swung around almost all of her closest confidants, U Htin Kyaw, a soft-spoken 69-year-old whose wife is a sitting NLD MP, has recently emerged as the favourite.
Currently helping to run Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s charitable foundation, he is an old school friend and one-time driver of the Nobel laureate whose family has been closely entwined with the NLD for decades.
Text / AFP
