The move accompanies the ruling party National League for Democracy (NLD)’s proposed bill to giveSuu Kyi a special role as state counsellor.

Upper House Speaker Mahn Win Khaing Thein said Htin Kyaw had submitted Pe Zin Htun to be minister of energy and Myo Thein Gyi to be minister of education, replacing Suu Kyi who holds the positions along with those of foreign minister and minister of the president’s office.

The two new ministerial candidates are serving bureaucrats at their respective ministries. Myo Thein Gyi is director general of the education ministry, while Pe Zin Tun is secretariat of the ministry of electric power and energy.

Meanwhile, the president also sought approval for the appointment of Tun Tun Oo as attorney general and Maw Than as auditor general. Tun Tun Oo was deputy attorney general in the previous government, while U Maw Than is the retired rector of the Institute of Economics.

The parliament is set today to adopt the appointments if there were no objections, according to China’s Xinhua news service.

The NLD won a landslide victory in the general election in November but Suu Kyi was prohibited by the military-sponsored constitution from being president because her sons are foreign nationals.

Instead, her close aide Htin Kyaw became president, while Suu Kyi‘s post as foreign minister allows her to sit on the influential National Defence and Security Council with the president, vice presidents and commander of the armed forces.

The position of minister of the president’s office also makes her the cabinet’s chief of staff empowered to work on behalf of the president.

Military-appointed MPs in the Upper House last week slammed the new bill to create a special position for Suu Kyi as state counsellor saying it would be unconstitutional.

If passed into law, the bill could give Suu Kyi a role similar to that of prime minister, allowing her to hold her parliamentary seat as well as her cabinet posts.