YANGON — The Yangon regional Parliament has approved amendments to the municipal law that will see a vice mayor elected in a secret ballot.
The Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC)’s executive board initially consisted of nine members: the mayor, four appointed members and four elected individuals, but it was later expanded to add two elected positions in order to give better service to the public. Now, the executive board has 11 members.
U Tint Lwin, chairman of the regional parliamentary public accounts committee, said that one of the six elected members will be elected to the post of vice mayor.
“He or she will be elected by the 11 executive members including the mayor through a secret ballot,” he told the Parliament on Monday.
The city municipality will have to cope with broader duties as Yangon’s population increases in the future, he said.
“So, the post is necessary to share the responsibilities with the mayor,” said U Tint Lwin. “The role is to assist the mayor and act his behalf when he is away, as well as perform the duties assigned by the mayor.
The vice mayor will also become the deputy to the YCDC chairman—a post concurrently held by the mayor.
The bill amending the 2013 Yangon municipal law was put forward to the regional Parliament on Feb. 2.
One of the key amendments approved on Monday is that anyone who is at least 18 years old will be allowed to vote in the municipal poll now. Previously, only one person in a household, usually the breadwinner, was allowed to cast a vote.
Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.
