Htin Kyaw ( my, ထင်ကျော်, or ; born 20 July 1946) is a Burmese politician, writer and scholar who served as the ninth
president of Myanmar
The president of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar () is the head of state and constitutional head of government of Myanmar. The president leads the Cabinet of Myanmar, the executive branch of the Burmese government. The current presiden ...
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 coup d'état. The second son of scholar
Min Thu Wun
Thiri Pyanchi Min Thu Wun ( my, မင်းသုဝဏ်; 10 February 1909 – 15 August 2004) was a Burmese poet, writer and scholar who helped launch a new age literary movement called Khit-San (Testing the Times) in Burma. He is the fath ...
, Htin Kyaw had held various positions in the education, planning and treasury ministries in prior governments.
The ethnic
Mon-
Bamar
The Bamar (, ; also known as the Burmans) are a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group native to Myanmar (formerly Burma) in Southeast Asia. With approximately 35 million people, the Bamar make up the largest ethnic group in Myanmar, constituting 68% of th ...
politician is viewed as an important ally of the
National League for Democracy
The National League for Democracy ( my, အမျိုးသား ဒီမိုကရေစီ အဖွဲ့ချုပ်, ; Abbreviation, abbr. NLD; Burmese abbr. ဒီချုပ်) is a liberal democratic political party in Myanm ...
leader and
State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi (; ; born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as State Counsellor of Myanmar (equivalent to a prime minister) and Minister of Foreign Affairs from ...
, who is
constitutionally barred from the presidency.
Early life and education
Htin Kyaw was born in
Rangoon
Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
,
British Burma
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
(now Yangon, Myanmar), to the late Burmese scholar and poet
Min Thu Wun
Thiri Pyanchi Min Thu Wun ( my, မင်းသုဝဏ်; 10 February 1909 – 15 August 2004) was a Burmese poet, writer and scholar who helped launch a new age literary movement called Khit-San (Testing the Times) in Burma. He is the fath ...
and Kyi Kyi.
His father was of Mon descent. His childhood name given by his father was ''Dala Ban'', a royal name of ancient
Mon commanders. (He later used it as his pen name)
Htin Kyaw completed his
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
education at the
English Methodist High School in 1962. He enrolled at the
Rangoon Institute of Economics (then part of
Rangoon Arts and Science University
'')
, mottoeng = There's no friend like wisdom.
, established =
, type = Public
, rector = Dr. Tin Mg Tun
, undergrad = 4194
, postgrad = 5748
, city = Kamayut 11041, Yangon
, state = Yangon Regio ...
) and graduated with an
M.Econ. in
statistics
Statistics (from German language, German: ''wikt:Statistik#German, Statistik'', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of ...
in 1968. He started working as a tutor while studying towards his master's degree.
He then moved to the University Computer Centre as a
programmer
A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software.
A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...
/
system analyst in 1970.
Htin Kyaw pursued further studies on a scholarship to the
Institute of Computer Science
The University of London Institute of Computer Science (ICS) was an Institute based in London in England. The institute was founded by the University of London to support and provide academic research, postgraduate teaching, computer services a ...
,
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
in 1971–1972 and attended computer studies in Asia Electronics Union,
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
in 1974. He completed his second master's degree in 1975.
He attended the
Hult International Business School
Hult International Business School (also known as Hult Business School or Hult) is a private business school with campuses in Cambridge, London, San Francisco, Dubai, New York City, and Shanghai. Hult is named for the school's benefactor Bertil ...
(then known as the Arthur D. Little School of Management), in
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
, in 1987.
Career
In 1975, Htin Kyaw joined the
Ministry of Industry 2 as a Deputy Division Chief. In 1980, he was appointed as a deputy director in the Foreign Economic Relations Department, Ministry of Planning and Finance, and resigned from government service in 1992.
He was arrested on 22 September 2000, and spent four months in
Insein prison
Insein Prison ( my, အင်းစိန်ထောင်) is located in Yangon Division, near Yangon (Rangoon), the old capital of Myanmar (formerly Burma). From 1988 to 2011 it was run by the military junta of Myanmar, named the State Law and ...
for assisting Aung San Suu Kyi's trip outside
Yangon
Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
. From 2012, he worked as a senior executive for
Daw Khin Kyi Foundation
Daw Khin Kyi Foundation ( my, ဒေါ်ခင်ကြည်ဖောင်ဒေးရှင်း, abbreviated DKKF) is a major Burmese charitable foundation. It was set up by Aung San Suu Kyi in 2012, and is named for her mother, Khin Kyi. ...
, founded by Aung San Suu Kyi and named after her mother
Khin Kyi
Maha Thiri Thudhamma Khin Kyi (16 April 1912 – 27 December 1988) ( my, ခင်ကြည်) was a Burmese politician and diplomat, best known for her marriage to the country's leader, Aung San, with whom she had four children, including Aung ...
. Though not a veteran member of the NLD, Kyaw worked very closely with Aung San Suu Kyi at the Office of NLD Chairperson.
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.
Presidency
On 10 March 2016, he was nominated as one of the
Vice Presidents of Myanmar by the
NLD for the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
(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
The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw ( my, ပြည်ထောင်စု လွှတ်တော် lit. Assembly of the Union) is the ''de jure'' national-level bicameral legislature of Myanmar (officially known as the ''Republic of the Union of My ...
(Union Parliament) voted him as the president, ahead of
Myint Swe
Myint Swe ( my, မြင့်ဆွေ, ; born 24 May 1951) is a Burmese politician currently serving as Acting President of Myanmar as well as Vice-President of Myanmar, First Vice President. He previously served as the acting president aft ...
and his party colleague
Henry Van Thio
Henry Van Thio (; born 9 August 1959) is a Burmese politician who is the Second Vice President of Myanmar since 30 March 2016. He previously served as a member of Amyotha Hluttaw (House of Nationalities). In the 2015 election, he contested and ...
.
On 17 March 2016, Htin Kyaw proposed a cabinet of 21 ministries. On 21 March 2016, he delivered a speech in the Assembly of the Union for the first time regarding the proposal of the formation of ministries and the MPs of the Union Parliament approved it.
On 30 March 2016, Htin Kyaw was sworn in as President of Myanmar, becoming the first president since
U Nu
Nu ( my, ဦးနု; ; 25 May 1907 – 14 February 1995), commonly known as U Nu also known by the honorific name Thakin Nu, was a leading Burmese statesman and nationalist politician. He was the first Prime Minister of Burma under the pr ...
'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. Indeed, the post of
State Counsellor–equivalent to a prime minister–was created for her.
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
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
MP for
Thongwa Township
Thongwa Township ( my, သုံးခွ မြို့နယ်) is a township of Yangon Region, Myanmar, located in the southeastern section of the region by the Gulf of Martaban
A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, t ...
and a member of the International Relations Committee of the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
. The couple have no children.
His father was the writer, poet and scholar
Min Thu Wun
Thiri Pyanchi Min Thu Wun ( my, မင်းသုဝဏ်; 10 February 1909 – 15 August 2004) was a Burmese poet, writer and scholar who helped launch a new age literary movement called Khit-San (Testing the Times) in Burma. He is the fath ...
, who won a seat in the
1990 election. His father-in-law,
U Lwin, was a co-founder of the
National League for Democracy
The National League for Democracy ( my, အမျိုးသား ဒီမိုကရေစီ အဖွဲ့ချုပ်, ; Abbreviation, abbr. NLD; Burmese abbr. ဒီချုပ်) is a liberal democratic political party in Myanm ...
.
He also acted as the secretary of the party from 1995 to 2010.
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
Thiri Pyanchi Min Thu Wun ( my, မင်းသုဝဏ်; 10 February 1909 – 15 August 2004) was a Burmese poet, writer and scholar who helped launch a new age literary movement called Khit-San (Testing the Times) in Burma. He is the fath ...
: ''The Father’s Life: Glimpses of my Father (Aba Bawa Aba Akyaung Tase Tasaung)''.
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.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1946 births
Hult International Business School alumni
Alumni of the University of London
Burmese people of Mon descent
Burmese Theravada Buddhists
Burmese writers
Burmese scholars
Living people
National League for Democracy politicians
Presidents of Myanmar
Prisoners and detainees of Myanmar
University of Yangon alumni