White House spokesman Josh Earnest told a regular briefing that while important progress had been made, additional steps were needed and Washington would continue to back reform.
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“We believe that with common efforts, the China-Myanmar partnership will be consolidated and enhanced”, the spokesperson said.
Soe Zeya Tun/ReutersCentral executive committee member of the National League for Democracy U Htin Kyaw arrives for the opening of the new parliament in Naypyitaw February 1, 2016.
He secured 360 votes from among 652 ballots cast in the bicameral parliament, where the vote count was read aloud and announced by a parliament official.
Despite weeks of negotiation prior to the vote, the NLD were unable to persuade the military to remove or suspend the clause to allow Suu Kyi to take office.
“I believe we can overcome all of the challenges we will have to face along with our people”, she said in a written statement.
They were keen to ensure there were no last-minute mistakes that would cost them a presidency they had campaigned for decades to see.
Second vice-president Henry Van Thio, 58, a little-known ethnic Chin Christian and an NLD MP in the Upper House, was elected with 79 votes. And not long ago, the police locked away her friend Nilar Thein, who had taken to the streets to demand a better education system.
While little known outside Myanmar, Htin Kyaw commands considerable respect inside the country, partly because his father was a legendary writer and early member of the NLD.
However, the military will remain powerful in the new government because it automatically holds one quarter of the parliamentary seats.
The legislature chooses Myanmar’s President from candidates put forward by the military and each house of parliament.
The military’s choice of Myint Swe as its candidate was widely seen as a setback for Suu Kyi, who has repeatedly stressed her commitment to clean government, the rule of law and basic rights. Suu Kyi’s test will be in steering the government between the generals and Myanmar’s thirst for change. His new stature will be noted by Burmese speakers for its poetic resonance, then, since Htin Kyaw in Burmese essentially translates as “famous”. In 2000, he tried to travel outside Rangoon with her, but was detained by the military junta.
Within NLD circles, Htin Kyaw, the son of respected author and poet Min Thu Wun, has the reputation of being a party loyalist who ran as an NLD candidate in elections in 1990.
Suu Kyi is barred from the post by the constitution, but has said she will lead the country anyway.
But one of the most crucial tasks will be to manage the relationship with the military, which retains significant power including control of the vital home, defence and border ministries.
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