Myanmar--Myanmar's outgoing prime minister, Thein Sein, has been appointed president in a move that ensures that the country's first post-election government will have a leader well versed in the ways of the old military rulers.
The new parliament named 65-year-old Thein Sein president on Friday, after selecting him from a pool of three vice presidents chosen a day earlier. An upper house lawmaker, Khin Shwe, contacted inside the parliament said Thein Sein won 408 out of 659 votes.The selection of a new government is the latest step in Myanmar's transition to democracy, which critics call a sham designed to cement military rule.