[Myanmar] Burma Lower House Speaker Visits New Zealand

Burma’s Lower House Speaker Shwe Mann is visiting New Zealand, where he will meet with local lawmakers, state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reports. He is visiting on invitation of New Zealand Lower House Speaker David Carter. Shwe Mann left for New Zealand on Saturday, leading a delegation of several lawmakers who chair parliamentary committees on international relations, agriculture, fisheries and industries. Shwe Mann was a leading general in Burma’s military regime until 2010 when, after a rigged election, the officers shed their uniforms to become lawmakers for the Union Solidarity and Development Party. He is one of the top leaders of the ruling party, which is chaired by President Thein Sein.