An historic occasion.

Wednesday 30 March was a historic day for the government/people/country of Myanmar, as the new President and two Vice-Presidents were sworn in, and as part of my burgeoning career as a watcher of Hluttaw TV, I was able to share in the excitement live.

And such excitement it was. There was the bit where Aung San Suu Kyi had to move her chair to let the three new members of the executive out because for some reason she was sitting between them and the aisle (but not above them, so I guess that’s something). There was the bit where the attendants had to individually fix their lapel mics, and there was the bit where they all read the same oath of office at the same time. Truly riveting TV.

But facetiousness aside, this was actually a really important event, and Myanmar people were justifiably emotional and proud. Waiting this long for democracy could not have been easy, and for some it’s been a particularly bloody and painful road. It will be interesting to see what this new government brings.

The last week has been quite interesting. On 1 April NLD took power, and so far (and to dip briefly back into facetiousness*), there has been ministerial responsibilities announced, one woman, no religious minorities, some fake PhDs. Aung San Suu Kyi had four ministries, then two, then she had a completely new and constitutionally dubious** position created specifically for her to be above the president, but not really, but kind of. Myanmar politics is fun.

But for some actually relevant/interesting/sober analysis, it’s probably worth reading people with more skin in the game, like Thin Lei Win.

And now to pictures.

*Really, it’s what I do best.
**According to the military, who abstained from all voting related to it, but were unwilling to refer it to the Constitutional Committee (some good commentary on Jonah Fisher’s twitter feed, if you’re interested).