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Myanmar president to re-lead former ruling party after end of presidency term

Xinhua, January 28, 2016 Adjust font size:

Myanmar's outgoing President U Thein Sein will re-lead the former ruling party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), after the end of his term of presidency in March 30, sources with the USDP said Thursday.

U Thein Sein made the remarks when meeting with USDP members.

U Thein Sein is original chairman of the USDP but his post was temporarily transferred to U Shwe Mann and then U Htay Oo during the period of his presidency since he could not undertake the responsibility as a party chairman concurrently and engage in party activities according to the constitution.

U Thein Sein, who was former prime minister with military rank during ex-Senior-General Than Shwe's military government tenure, won the 2010 general election as a representative to the House of Representatives (Lower House).

He became the first civilian president of the country in 2011 after five decades of military rule.

Without U Thein Sein taking part in the 2015 general election, the USDP lost to the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), holding only 30 seats with the House of Representatives, 12 seats with the House of Nationalities and 76 seats with the Region or State Parliaments totalling 118 or 10 percent of the total parliamentary seats.

In the election, the NLD, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, won the absolute majority occupying a total of 886 seats or 77 percent with 255 or 79 percent in the House of Representatives, 135 or 80 percent in the House of Nationalities and 496 or 75.7 percent in the Region or State Parliament as well as 17 ethnic representatives to the Region or State Parliaments.

Myanmar's two Houses of the newly-elected parliament are due to start its first sessions in Nay Pyi Taw later on Monday following the end of the previous term on Saturday.

Meanwhile, U Thein Sein, in his address to the union Parliament Thursday, reiterated his promise to carry out systematic power transfer to the newly-elected government in accordance with the existing laws and by-laws. Enditem