Myanmar’s pro-democracy National League for Democracy (NLD) party said Monday that an announcement on social media about its nominees for the country’s two vice-presidential posts was a hoax.
A letter bearing an NLD seal was posted on social media on Sunday, saying the party had selected Htin Kyaw from the lower house of parliament and Khun Tun Oo, an ethnic Shan politician from the upper house and chairman of Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), as its nominees for vice president, one of whom would be voted in as president.
The statement was posted after the members of the NLD’s central executive committee met at party chairwoman Aung San Suu Kyi’s home in the capital Naypyidaw.
“Were not saying that this statement is illegal, but it’s a hoax,” said Nyan Win, a member of the NLD committee, told RFA’s Myanmar Service. “We’re not saying action should be taken against the people who did it, but we have said it is a crime.”
The NLD posted its response Facebook page, saying the publishing of the fake letter was akin to committing a crime.
“We don’t want to talk about the details,” Nyan Win said. “If we did, people would think we [the NLD] are angry.”
The NLD’s central executive committee said it would submit the names of candidates for vice president on Thursday.
On that day, the upper and lower houses of parliament along with appointed military deputies will nominate three candidates for the country’s top leadership. Parliament will cast votes for the nominations with the winner becoming president and the two runners-up vice presidents.
The transfer of political power ceremony is scheduled for March 30.
So far, the NLD, which swept general elections in November, has not revealed the names of those it will put forward for the posts.
Aung San Suu Kyi, who is barred from becoming president under the current constitution which prohibits anyone with close foreign relatives from assuming the nation’s top office, has vowed to govern from a position above the president.
Reported by Kyaw Thu for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
