NAYPYITAW, Myanmar, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Myanmar's new Parliament nominated five lawmakers to vie for president of the military-controlled country but the list did not include top Gen. Than Shwe.
The Irrawaddy, an online news service, reported the Parliament, the first such to open in about two decades, nominated the five Tuesday. The parliament convened last week in the new capital of Naypyitaw after elections in November, widely rejected as a sham by democracy supporters at home and abroad, who have been critical of the military rulers who have held power since 1962 in the isolated south Asian nation.
Three vice presidents are to be elected from among the five nominees and one would become president.
Two of the five nominees are from the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, which holds a majority in both houses of parliament. The others are from minority ethnic parties.
The country's new constitution is designed to keep power in the hands of the military, the report said.
The absence of the name of Than Shwe, 78, the country's supreme ruler, from the list led to speculation whether he would continue as the military's commander-in-chief or retire and become patriarch of the USDP, the Irrawaddy reported. More than 80 percent of parliamentary seats are held by military and USDP representatives.
The report said former Prime Minister Thein Sein, currently the third-most powerful man in Myanmar, is the front-runner for president. The new president will become chairman of the powerful National Defense and Security Council, with wide-ranging powers independent of parliament, including the power to declare a state of emergency.
Noted opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party boycotted the November election.
