All 23 Karen State Hluttaw (parliament) members of parliament (MPs) unanimously approved the appointment of Nan Kin Htwe Myint, as Karen State Chief Minister on 28 March.
The Myanmar President-Elect, U Htin Kyaw, nominated Nan Kin Htwe Myint, the MP for Hpa-an Township Constituency 1, for the job by. The nomination was unanimously accepted during the third daily session of the second Karen State Hluttaw (parliament) in a vote taken at 9am on 28 March.
Nan Khin Htwe Myint is also the chairperson of the Karen State branch of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and a member of the NLDs central executive committee. Ever since the elections in November 2015 there have bee rumours that she would become the Karen State Chief Minister.
She told KIC on 25 March that within 100 days of taking office she plans to carry out significant changes that will contribute to the wellbeing of the inhabitants of Karen State.
New Karen State Chief Minister
Nan Khin Htwe Myint (front, second from left)
Saw J A Win Myint, the Thandaunggyi Township Constituency 2 MP from the Kayin People’s Party (KPP), welcomed the appointment of Nan Khin Htwe Myint and said he would work with her.
He said: I just greeted Nan Khin Htwe Myint this morning. I am proud that she has been elected [as chief minister] for our state. She told us to help in the development of our state and said that it would develop more if we work together. We are encouraged that she has the spirit to work together [with others] for the state’s development.”
Nan Khin Htwe Myint and the Karen State Government cabinet members were sworn into their jobs at the State Parliament on 30 March and they will formally start working on 1 April.
Nan Khin Htwe Myint, age 62, is the daughter of Dr Saw Hla Tun, a former Chairman of Karen State, and Daw Amar. She was born in Mawlamyine in Mon State and she holds a bachelors degree in economics.
She joined the NLD in 1990 and competed in the 1990 election, winning over 73 percent of the votes in her constituency. In 1996 she married Sa Thant Zin. In 1997 the military government arrested her and she spent the following two years in Mawlamyine Prison.
Since her release from prison in 1999 she has served as the chairperson of the Karen State branch of the NLD and as one of the 15 members of NLD Central Executive Committee.
Translated by Thida Linn
Edited in English by Mark Inkey for BNI
