Myanmar new parliament elects speaker of House of Representatives

Myanmar's National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi arrives for the opening of the new parliament in Naypyitaw February 1, 2016.[Photo/Agencies]

NAY PYI TAW - Myanmar's new parliament Monday elected U Win Myint of the National League for Democracy (NLD) as Speaker of the House of Representatives (Lower House) and U Ti Khun Myat of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) as Deputy Speaker of the House.

The election took place at the first session of the parliament that began a new five-year term from 2016.

U Win Myint, an NLD MP to the House of Representatives from Pathein constituency in the last term of the parliament, was re-elected to the same House from Tammwe constituency in the 2015 general election.

U Ti Khun Myat is a Kachin ethnic parliament representative elected from Kutkai constituency representing the USDP.

Speaking at the session after being sworn in as the House's Speaker, U Win Myint said the day was an honorable day for democratic transition in the political history of Myanmar, vowing to strive for gaining basic human rights for the people of the country.

He urged all stakeholders to cooperate in thriving democracy system, promoting people's right, and building a genuine democratic federal union.

The newly-elected parliament started its first session with the House of Representatives in Nay Pyi Taw Monday morning, two days after the expiry of the previous term of the parliament.

The summon for the first session of the new parliament came nearly three months after the end of the general election on Nov. 8, 2015, in which NLD led by Aung San Suu Kyi won the absolute majority of the parliamentary seats.

Attending the first parliament session, chaired by Daw Khin Htay Kywe of NLD, were a total of 430 MPs to the House of Representatives dominated by the NLD.

The first session of the newly elected House of Nationalities (Upper House) is scheduled to start on Wednesday and will be followed by the first session of the Region or State Parliaments next week.

The NLD won the absolute majority of the parliamentary seats in the Nov. 8 general election, competing mainly against the former ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party.

Out of a total of 1,150 parliamentary seats at three levels of parliament, NLD dominated with 886 or 77 percent, with 255 or 79 percent being 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 Parliaments as well as 17 ethnic representatives to the Region or State Parliaments.