The new deadline, set Tuesday, means the upper and lower houses of parliament and the military bloc that holds a constitutionally mandated 25 per cent of seats will now nominate their presidential candidates by March 10. The original deadline was March 17.
The new president is virtually certain to be from Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party. After its landslide election victory in November, the NLD commands majorities in both chambers of parliament, so it will get to nominate two candidates.
Some senior NLD officials had floated the idea that the article barring her from becoming president could be suspended, but that proposal seems to have failed in the face of opposition from the military, which remains a potent political force. Myanmar was under military rule from 1962 until 2011, when a military-backed elected government took office.
"I think the parliament changed the date of the presidential nomination to earlier because the new government wants to have some more time to prepare before the transfer of power," said Yan Myo Thein, a political analyst.