"The chief minister of Myanmar’s commercial capital Yangon, seen as a possible successor to Aung San Suu Kyi, told RFA on Monday that he will not contest elections in November because of a “health condition,” dismissing reports he had filed papers to run. Phyo Min Thein had been nominated by the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party to run again for his current Yangon regional parliamentary seat. He won the seat in the NLD’s landslide victory in the 2015 general elections, and serves as a local MP concurrently with his job as chief minister of Myanmar’s biggest city. “I have informed the party that I can no longer serve as an MP [member of parliament] due to my health condition, so I will not contest in the upcoming election,” Phyo Min Thein told RFA’s Myanmar Service during an exclusive interview. He said local media reports saying that he had submitted a candidate application were false. Phyo Min Thein, 51, who underwent heart surgery four years ago, did not elaborate on his health condition. “I will keep contributing to the party’s works and nation-building efforts,” he added. Phyo Min Thein emerged several years ago as a strong candidate to succeed State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi after impressing her and other top NLD officials with his willingness to take on tough infrastructure and transportation challenges in Yangon. The former Rangoon was the commercial and political hub of British Burma and the country’s capital until 2006. A former political prisoner like Aung San Suu Kyi and many of her followers in a decades-long struggle against military rule, Phyo Min Thein began his ascent in 2012, when he joined the then-opposition NLD and won a seat representing Yangon in a by-election..."