Htin Kyaw, Myanmar's first civilian president in 50 years, steps down; successor to be appointed within 7 days

Myanmar’s president and Aung San Suu Kyi’s right-hand man, Htin Kyaw, stepped down on Wednesday after two years in the position, his office said. [caption id=“attachment_2674190” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Htin Kyaw. Reuters[/caption] “Myanmar president U Htin Kyaw resigned on 21 March, 2018,” a terse statement on the president’s official Facebook page said, adding that a new leader would be selected “within seven working days”, in accordance with the country’s 2008 Constitution. Kyaw became the first President of Myanmar with no ties to the army in more than 50 years. A close friend and confidant of the Nobel peace prize laureate Suu Kyi, Kyaw was hand-picked by her to run Myanmar’s government because a Constitution drafted by the former junta barred the democracy champion from the top office. Kyaw, elected by the NLD-dominated Parliament in March 2016, ran a charity founded by Suu Kyi and has been a trusted member of her inner circle since the mid-1990s. With inputs from agencies