Irrawaddy-Sept 8
He must be the least known president in the world, tasked with the most difficult mission, one that other heads of the state around world aren’t faced with: Leading a revolutionary government that has vowed to uproot the ruling military dictatorship in Myanmar—one of the most notorious and ruthless regimes on this planet.
Officially, he is an acting president. But he can’t live in a presidential palace; he can’t work in a presidential office, either. Myanmar people have no idea where their president is. He was not elected through a vote but appointed by a legitimate, elected parliamentary body. He was also unknown to most of his fellow countrymen until recently, but they respect him and have embraced him as their head of state. The government he leads is mostly made up of elected lawmakers from the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, whose government was ousted by the military coup last year, and their ethnic allies. While commanding support from a vast majority of Myanmar people, the government he leads challenges the legitimacy of Myanmar’s ruling military junta, which has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity against the country’s entire population of more than 54 million people. Meet Duwa Lashi La, the acting president of Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG). Duwa Lashi La, 72, is ethnic Kachin and a Christian. He studied law at Yangon University and worked as a prosecutor and law officer for 18 years. He speaks English, Chinese, Burmese and Shan, in addition to his mother tongue Kachin, and is also well-versed in other Kachin tribal languages. He served as chairman of the Kachin National Consultative Assembly (also known as WMR), which is reportedly the most authoritative political body in Kachin State, till January 2021. Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/in-person/profile/acting-president-of-myanmars-civilian-govt-wins-hearts-of-the-people.html
