The son of former President’s Office minister Aung Min is running to be an MP in Bago’s regional parliament for the opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).
Dr Htoo Char Aung, also known as Htoo Aung, does not have a background in politics. He graduated from the Defence Services Medical Academy and later became a hotelier, according to the mVoter 2020 app.
Htoo Aung told Myanmar Now he could not comment on his candidacy until he received permission from USDP headquarters.
In a post on Facebook on Saturday, he said he was running to ensure people would have access to the basic needs for living.
His father Aung Min served as the first ever minister for the President’s Office from 2012 until 2016, when the National League for Democracy (NLD) took power and Aung San Suu Kyi assumed the role.
He became an MP for the USDP in Taunggu in 2010 then ran as an independent in Kayah state in 2015 but lost to the NLD. He will not be running this year.
Aung Min served in the military and achieved the rank of major. He was the transport minister under the State Peace and Development Council and later became chair of the now-defunct Myanmar Peace Centre.
Ten candidates will be competing for the Bago regional parliament seat in constituency 2, including the NLD’s chair for Bago region, Thein Dan.
In 2015, the USDP got about 30,000 votes in the constituency while the NLD took the seat with around 70,000.
