Myint Swe would become president if Htin Kyaw cannot do the job. Myanmar NPL leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Myint Swe at the opening of the EU office in Yangon. Credit:AP The appointment of Myint Swe signals that Ms Suu Kyi faces serious difficulties running Myanmar's first civilian government in decades. Some Myanmar analysts described the appointment as a direct challenge to the Nobel laureate whose National League for Democracy party won a landslide victory at elections last November.

The appointment will create diplomatic difficulties for countries such as the US and Australia at a time when they want to be seen to support the incoming administration's efforts to share power with the military. US State Department spokesman John Kirby said on Friday that the US has "made its concerns known about this individual and this process, quite frankly, and we'll monitor it going forward". Htin Kyaw, left, a National League for Democracy presidential candidate, speaks with NLD MPs in parliament on Monday. Credit:AP In 2012 Myint Swe was proposed as a vice-presidential candidate but was dropped after it emerged his son-in-law had Australian citizenship. Reuters has quoted sources saying the man has since renounced his Australian passport and taken Myanmar nationality. The military blocked Ms Suu Kyi becoming president under a constitutional clause barring anyone whose relatives are foreigners from taking presidential or vice-presidential positions. Her late husband was British, as are her two sons.

Myanmar workers sweep the road leading to parliament in Naypyitaw ahead of the vote to decide the country's new president and vice-presidents on Tuesday. Credit:AP Myint Swe, 64, is a close supporter of the still-influential retired dictator Than Shwe and one of dozens of military-linked and business figures on the US Treasury Department's list of people with whom US citizens and companies cannot do business. Since becoming chief minister of Yangon in 2011, Myint Swe has acquired a reputation for controversial commercial dealings and ties to "crony" businessmen. Appointed lawmakers who represent Myanmar's military arrive for a parliamentary session in Naypyitaw on Monday. Credit:AP As a hardline general and head of Myanmar's feared military intelligence unit, he played a key role in the military's repressive regime, including commanding a crackdown on the Saffron Revolution, during which 32 people, including Buddhist monks, were gunned down on Yangon streets.

Myanmar's social media users attacked him after the military made its nomination public on the weekend, accusing him of being behind paramilitary forces deployed against student demonstrators in Yangon last year. An ethnic Naga lawmaker of the National League for Democracy party arrives at parliament on Monday. Credit:AP NLD officials have been quoted in Myanmar's media as saying they were dismayed by Myint Swe's appointment after Ms Suu Kyi had sought to smooth relations with the military in a series of private meetings. An NLD spokesperson said the party was concerned about the role Myint Swe would play in the important National Defence and Security Council where the military has a majority of 11 members, adding he would be judged by his actions. Lawmakers of the National League for Democracy party arrive at parliament on Monday. Credit:AP

But Ko Ko Naing, a member of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, defended the appointment, saying "he can lead the country successfully because he has served as a general in the military and also as Yangon's chief minister". Tuesday's vote also elected Henry Van Thio, a little-known ethnic Chin and former military officer to be second vice-president. Myint Swe, who led the crackdown on the Saffron Revolution, has been elected vice-president by the powerful Myanmar military. Credit:AP Under the constitution Htin Kyaw, 69, a former schoolmate of Ms Suu Kyi, will now be able to appoint a cabinet that will take charge of the country on April 1. But Ms Suu Kyi has made it clear that he will be subordinate to her as she runs the country from a position tipped to be a "super" minister in the president's office.

Presidential, from left: Htin Kyaw, Henry Van Hti, from the National League for Democracy party, and Myint Swe, the military's candidate. Credit:AP There is also speculation she will become foreign minister, enabling her to also sit on the National Defence and Security Council. Loading Follow FairfaxForeign on Twitter Follow FairfaxForeign on Facebook