Aung San Suu Kyi was nominated as a Cabinet minister in Myanmar's civilian government on Tuesday, giving the democracy champion a formal position despite being blocked from the presidency in a nation ruled for decades by the military. The Nobel laureate, who has vowed to rule above the next president Htin Kyaw, was named first in a list of ministers read out to lawmakers by the Parliament Speaker Mann Win Khaing Than, who did not specify which position she or others would hold. A parliamentary vote to confirm the posts is expected later in the week. The NLD only named 15 ministers for 18 posts chosen by the civilian government, sparking speculation that Suu Kyi will take on four portfolios. Suu Kyi is the sole woman and one of only six NLD members in the Cabinet, which also includes members from the main army-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party in keeping with the NLD's pledge for a Cabinet of national reconciliation. Observers say she is likely to at least take the role of foreign minister, giving her a Cabinet post, international clout and a seat at the country's influential Security Council, which is dominated by the still hugely powerful military. Suu Kyi, 70, is the daughter of Myanmar's independence hero and has towered over the country's democracy movement as the figurehead of its spirited, nonviolent struggle against decades of military rule. But she is blocked by the junta-drafted constitution because her late husband was British, as are her two sons. Under Myanmar's complex political rules, the Cabinet role means she will likely have to forego her formal position as head of her National League for Democracy, which she led to a stunning victory in historic November elections that were the freest in generations. "I feel confident with this new government formation," said NLD upper house MP Myat Ngana Soe after the announcement, adding that Suu Kyi would continue to hold sway over the party. Suu Kyi's ban from the presidency has been a thorn in the side of her party since it was allowed a space in parliament under the outgoing quasi-civilian government led by President Thein Sein, a retired general. She has held several rounds of talks with army chief Min Aung Hlaing since the elections, but was unable to remove the constitutional barrier. Taking a role in the Cabinet puts an end to speculation that she would opt for a position akin to India's Sonia Gandhi, who wielded huge influence despite having no official government role. "She wants to be at the heart of government. She wants to do it properly, and formally, and, this is important to her, legally," said Trevor Wilson, an academic at the Australian National University and former ambassador to Myanmar. Htin Kyaw, who will become the country's first elected civilian president in decades, is seen as having absolute loyalty to Suu Kyi as her long-term confidante and ally. Last week he said his rise to the leadership was "Suu Kyi's victory." But his novice administration faces a raft of challenges — including conflict in ethnic minority border areas, entrenched poverty and the need to rapidly improve the country's decrepit infrastructure and long-neglected education and health services. Another key challenge will be smoothing relations with the army that locked up Suu Kyi and other NLD politicians for years during junta rule. The military still holds strong political sway under a charter that reserves a quarter of Parliament seats for unelected soldiers and grants the army chief direct control over three key ministries; home affairs, border affairs and defense. But Min Aung Hlaing has pledged his support for the country's political transition. The new government, which under Myanmar's political system does not have a prime minister, has offered few hints about its policies beyond streamlining the country's notoriously labyrinthine civil service. One of the nominated ministers Thein Swe, a former general and one of two listed in the Cabinet from the USDP, told reporters in the capital Naypyidaw that he would "work together" with the new government "for the national interest."
