
The chief minister of Mandalay region, Zaw Myint Maung, has been receiving treatment for leukaemia in Thailand for nearly a month, an NLD spokesperson has announced.
The chief minister’s condition is treatable and “not critical,” Myo Myunt told reporters after a National Day ceremony at the NLD’s headquarters in Yangon
“The disease is controllable… His condition is not critical,” he said.
A confidant of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, Zaw Myint Maung, 68, is a former political prisoner and the current second vice chair of the NLD.
The chief minister left for Thailand on October 24 after attending a meeting in Yangon between legislators, the Union government and NLD leaders.
He is now resting after receiving chemotherapy, said Myo Nyunt.
Energy and construction minister Zarny Aung is serving as interim chief minister in his absence.
A medical doctor by training, Zaw Myint Maung was elected as a lawmaker in a 1990 election ignored by the military junta and jailed for political activism from then until February 2009.
He was elected again in a 2012 by-election in Kyaukpadaung township and in 2015 in Amarapura township. He was appointed regional chief minister in April 2016.
Zaw Myint Maung has earned a reputation as a good leader and is highly praised among the residents of Mandalay.