Naypyidaw [Myanmar], Mar 28 (NT):  Today the Myanmar parliament elected the country's lower house speaker and legislator U. Win Myint as the new president.

Myint replaced U. Htin Kyaw, Myanmar's first democratically elected president. U. Htin Kyaw resigned last week amid concerns about his health over the last few months.

Myint is a lawyer by profession, Myanmar Times reported.

The newly sworn president is a member of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD). He came into power with a brute majority in March 2016, ending decades of military dictatorial ruling.

Myint is considered a trusted confidant of Myanmar's de facto person in charge. Worth mentioning here Aung San Suu Kyi is legally barred from holding the post of the president by the military-drafted constitution.

In 1981, he became a senior lawyer in the Yangon high court and went on to become the lawyer of Myanmar's Apex court within a few years.

He was first elected to the parliament in 1990, but was denied a seat by the military. However, He was successful in the 2012 by-elections and 2015 general elections.

His appointment as the new president comes at a time, when the Suu Kyi administration has been under enormous pressure from the international community in handling the Rohingya crisis and the slow execution of political and economic reforms.