Suu Kyi appointed as committee chair in Myanmar's lower house

Yangon, March 17  Myanmar's Parliament of Representatives (Lower House) on Thursday appointed Aung San Suu Kyi as chairperson of the Joint Coordination Committee for Development of Parliamentary Affairs, according to the ruling National League for Democracy.

U Htin Kyaw, a 69-year-old academic and long-time aide of NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi, was elected with 360 votes while U Myint Swe from the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), who was directly assigned by the military, was elected first vice president with 213 votes. 

U Henry Van Thio, an NLD upper house member and an ethnic Chin Christian, was elected second vice president with 79 votes.

The appointed military bloc in parliament holds 166 seats, 25 percent of the total, while the military-backed USDP has 41 seats in the two houses.

Suu Kyi, who led her party to victory over the military-backed USDP in last November’s general elections, is barred by the constitution from becoming president because her sons are foreign nationals.