Myanmar President appoints first opposition MP to cabinet

YANGON (AFP) - Myanmar's president has appointed an opposition lawmaker to his cabinet, state media said on Wednesday, giving a foothold to a political rival in his reformist government for the first time.

Tin Shwe, an upper house member of parliament from the National Democratic Force (NDF), has been drafted in as deputy minister of hotels and tourism by President Thein Sein, the New Light of Myanmar reported.

The decision prompted the NDF, a splinter group from Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party, to insist that it would not go easy on the government now that its man is in the cabinet.

"There was no negotiation with the party and we didn't know about it in advance," NDF chairman Khin Maung Swe told AFP, adding the party nonetheless supported the appointment.