NAY PYI TAW, Myanmar - Myanmar is set Wednesday to swear-in its first elected civilian president in generations, a role that will see him act as a proxy for pro-democracy figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi and carry the hopes of a nation emerging from military rule.
Htin Kyaw, a trusted friend of the Nobel laureate, takes power from the outgoing quasi-civilian government led by former general Thein Sein.
The handover at the junta-built capital Naypyidaw will mark the final act of a prolonged transition since Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party cleaned up at a November election.
The Southeast Asian nation of 51 million people is in the throes of a dramatic transformation as it emerges from the shadow of the junta and opens its economy to the world.