Burma nominates new vice-president Myint Swe

Burma's military has nominated a former general to be one of the country's two vice presidents. Myint Swe is widely considered to be a hardliner and has close links to the former leader of Burma's military junta, Than Shwe. Once the appointment is confirmed by parliament, he will replace Tin Aung Myint Oo, who stood down for health reasons. Correspondents say this is unlikely to shift Burma's current reformist agenda. The dominance of Burma's military is entrenched in its parliament and political system. A total of 25% of its MPs are from the armed forces and one of the vice-presidents is always a military nominee. Like most of the senior members of the cabinet, Myint Swe has a military background and played a full role in what was until recently a highly repressive military dictatorship, says the BBC's Jonah Fisher in Bangkok. Parliamentary approval of the military's nominee is a formality.

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