Mr. Speaker and representatives of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw

Allow me to extend my greetings and best wishes for your physical and spiritual well-being.

I have been elected as the President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, accountable to the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw and to the Union Government of Myanmar. Accordingly it is my bounden duty to apprise you of the policies, principles and procedures of the newly formed Union Government.

First and foremost, I myself as well as all representatives have been duly elected by the people and are therefore the people's representatives, and as such it is our duty to honour, abide by and protect the Constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar which was approved and promulgated with the consent of the majority of the people.

Since this is our given duty, I would like to urge you that it is imperative for us to be faithful to, and cherish the democratic State that is to be established in accordance with the Constitution, and that we must pledge to sacrifice our life to protect it.

Esteemed representatives,

You know that our country was once under imperialist rule for many years but that through the united strength and endeavour of all the national races we regained our independence at great cost of life. Regrettably after we had gained independence, instead of making every effort to reconstruct our nation, armed conflicts broke out among our kinsfolk and a good deal of blood has been shed due to ideological radicalism, factionalism and racism and the people have been adrift in a sea of suffering for nearly five decades.

Whenever the country's situation became chaotic and was on the verge of losing its independence and sovereignty, the Tatmadaw, dedicated to its pledge of duty and loyalty has had to intercede many times to save the country from total collapse. In 1988 also the Tatmadaw had to resolve and remove the lawlessness and disorderliness that erupted to rebuild the nation which had deteriorated in all aspects. It then laid sound and solid foundations as a legacy for us to carry on with the task of reconstructing a peaceful, modern and developed nation.