(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) Yangon March 15 (QNA) - Myanmar's parliament elected Htin Kyaw in a historic vote on Tuesday to become Myanmar's first civilian president in over 50 years.
Htin Kyaw won 360 votes in a joint session of Myanmar's parliament."This is a victory of the people" Htin Kyaw told the media after the vote. He will begin his term on April 1 as the head of the country's first freely elected government since the military took over in the 1960s.
The other two nominees for president were selected as vice presidents.Myint Swe a retired general with a reputation as a hardliner became the first vice president with 213 votes. Parliamentarian Henry Van Thio another ally of Suu Kyi and a member of the Chin ethnic minority was chosen as the second vice president with 79 votes.
Members of a new cabinet led by the newly elected president are set to be announced by March 25 and will be sworn in by March 29. (QNA)