NAY PYI TAW — Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday met with senior officials of the outgoing government to discuss the handover of state power to her National League for Democracy, Information Minister U Ye Htut said in a post on his Facebook page.
“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi led the meeting to handover head of state and government duties smoothly and systematically,” said Information Minister U Ye Htut on his popular Facebook page. “At this meeting we discussed procedures for a smooth power transition and cooperation tasks in detail.”
Also attending the meeting were Deputy Director General of the President’s Office U Zaw Htay and senior NLD member U Win Htein.
The NLD won the November 8 general election by a landslide, claiming almost 80 per cent of the contested seats, and is due to form a new government by April 1, after a new president and two vice presidents are selected by the lower and upper house of parliaments.
The NLD, led by Nobel laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, also won the 1990 general election by a landslide but was blocked from assuming power by the military regime that had ruled the country since 1962.
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Deep distrust of the military has led to fears that the powerful institution will try to block the NLD from power again this time round, but a series of meetings between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and senior military figures since her electoral win has somewhat placated the sceptics.
Since November 8, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has met with Lower House speaker Thura U Than Shwe, President U Thein Sein, Army-Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and most recently, on December 4, with former junta chief U Than Shwe.
After her meeting with U Than Shwe, who kept her under house arrest for 15 years between 1989 to 2010, the former dictator acknowledged that Daw Aung Suu Kyi would be the “future leader” of the country, according to Facebook post by his grandson Nay Shwe Thway Aung.
