Burma's New Parliament Appoints President

Burma’s Prime Minister Thein Sein was chosen on Friday to become the military-run country's first civilian president in half a century – a cosmetic shift that does little to end the army's overwhelming influence on politics.

The rise of Thein Sein, a 65-year-old loyalist of paramount leader Senior General Than Shwe, offers slim chance of economic and social reforms in the resource-rich country… wilted under decades of brutal military dictatorships.

His appointment bodes ill for the national reconciliation that Burma's recently freed pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi says is crucial for development.

Most diplomats and analysts expect the new president to maintain Burma’s authoritarian status quo, with 78-year-old strongman Than Shwe wielding behind-the-scenes influence.

Meanwhile, some Burmese nationals say it does not matter to them who the new president is, as the only thing they care about is how they will make ends meet.

Thein Sein's rise follows a carefully choreographed election on November 7 and the opening of a parliament on January 31 – a process condemned by rights groups as rigged to entrench army rule behind a democratic facade.

Opposition parties barely have a stake. The country's biggest pro-democracy force, the National League for Democracy (NLD), and its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, have strong public support but no political mandate, having boycotted the poll.

The NLD, which won the polls in 1990 but was ignored by the regime, was dissolved last year and declared an "unlawful association."