Section 4 | HERE AND NOW 4.1 Military Leaders & Politicians As noted, the 2015 elections saw a landslide victory for the NLD at the union level and in twelve of the fourteen state and regional hluttaws. The new government that took power April 1, 2016, is nominally headed by President Htin Kyaw, the first elected civilian head of state since 1962. The president is a long-time confidant of Suu Kyi and is a low-profile but widely respected individual with long NLD links and the son of a famous poet.248 His relationship to champions and spoilers of the gender digital divide is unknown, beyond his general support of the NLD agenda for peace and prosperity. However, his administration’s strong anti-corruption rhetoric does not translate into full transparency. Despite the fact that the NLD had publicly pressured the previous administration to release a list of assets declared by its cabinet members (as required by section 101 of the Union Government Law adopted in 2012), the President’s Office announced in July 2016 that it had collected the information but had no intention of making it public.249 The Constitution also requires that the president and both vice presidents declare their personal assets to the Pyidaungsu “For many many years we have been left behind because our education system was weak, because our political system was undemocratic and because our people were never given the chance to realize their potential.” —Aung San Suu Kyi, Going Global Conference speech, June 1, 2015 Hluttaw, but whether the new administration complied has never been confirmed publicly. As discussed above (see section 3.1), the newly created position of “state counselor” makes Daw Aung San Suu Kyi the de facto head of state, with Htin Kyaw serving as a proxy. Although she resigned her seat in the legislature and may not take part in party activities while in office in accordance with constitutional restrictions on legislators and party members appointed to executive positions, as state counselor she advises both the executive and legislative branches. Key informants and political analysts agree that she continues to wield huge authority over the NLD and thus over law-making.250 No evidence was found of Suu Kyi’s economic ties to either champions or spoilers of the gender digital divide, although she is chairperson of the Yangon-based Daw Khin Kyi 248 249 250 International Crisis Group, Myanmar’s New Government. Lynn Nyan Hlaing, “NLD Will Not Release List of Cabinet Ministers’ Assets,” Frontier Myanmar, July 29, 2016. International Crisis Group, Myanmar’s New Government. Ending the Gender Digital Divide in Myanmar: A Problem-Driven Political Economy Assessment | 77