According to an insider source, the new nominee for the office of Vice President # 1, Vacated by the resignation of Tin Aung Myint Oo in April, will almost certainly be the President’s choice, Lt-Gen Hla Htay Win.

Hla Htay Win is currently serving as Army-Navy-Air Force Chief Coordinator, a position comparable to Joint Chief of Staff.

Army Chief Gen VK Singh with Lt Gen Hla Htay Win, Joint Chief of Staff of Defence Services, Republic of the Union of Myanmar (Photo: Sainik Samachar)

The name of former Lt-Gen Myint Swe, currently serving as Rangoon Region Chief Minister, who was nominated on 10 July as the successor, has been removed, upon discovery that his son (the widely read Thit Htoo Lwin has identified him as Taya Myint Swe) has been accorded Australian citizenship, said the source close to the inner circle. “It may mean the new Veep is a man who will be able to work with the President as well as the military,” he commented.

Article 59 (f) of the 2008 constitution stipulates that the President or the Vice President “shall he himself, one of the parents, the spouse, one of the legitimate children or their spouses not owe allegiance to a foreign power, not be subject of a foreign power or citizen of a foreign country.”

During the 19 May meeting (UPWC) and the Restoration Council of Shan State / Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA), a member of the UPWC told his counterpart from the RCSS/SSA that three candidates had been nominated for the office of the Vice President: U Myint Swe (by Senior General Than Shwe), U Tin Aye (by Vice Senior General Min Aung Hlaing) and Hla Htay Win (by President Thein Sein).