Support Federal Union, Armed Ethnic KNU: Aung San Suu Kyi Now Understands

JAKARTA - As the oldest and most influential armed ethnic group in Myanmar, the Karen National Union (KNU) and its military wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), firmly reject and oppose the Myanmar military coup.

KNLA Brigade 5 troops are known to seize two military posts in Papun District, Karen State. They also managed to block food deliveries to the military regime forces in Papun, forcing the regime to carry out airstrikes.

In addition to the military action, the KNU is negotiating with the Representative Committee for the Myanmar Parliament (CRPH), the body that represents elected members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) parliament, to discuss forming a federal union.

Brigade 5 spokesman Padoh Mahn Mahn said the bombing took place on March 27 to 31. Meanwhile, since April 1 there has been no bombing, only the Myanmar military regime has carried out reconnaissance.

"We have seen the announcement of a unilateral ceasefire by the military council. They have stopped attacking perhaps because of the ceasefire. Maybe, they are making preparations, citing a ceasefire," he told The Irrawaddy.

He said the villagers did not dare to go home, some chose to flee to the Thai border, but the majority hid in caves and forests to avoid further air raids. There are also those who take refuge in the forests of Thailand.

"There is no guarantee people will be able to escape safely to Thailand. At first, they said they were making preparations in various places. But when our people started showing up, they refused," he said.

Padoh Mahn Mahn said the bombing was a normal thing for their troops. However, it is different with civilians. That said, all the people who were killed or injured were the villagers. All buildings that were damaged were inside the village.

"We can say the military targeted civilians. This has never changed from the start. They attacked the Karen fighters, but they never marginalized the villagers. Everyone has seen that they brutally kill unarmed civilians, even in cities that are not. is a conflict zone, "he explained.

Regarding the federal democracy charter that was initiated by CRPH, he said that KNU was involved in drafting the charter from the start. He said the head of the KNU central committee participated in the process.

"We do not see clear principles about federal soldiers in the charter. But we can see they will build a defense force. For our participation in each proposed force, the ethnic groups are already fighting for their autonomy. So we will continue to defend our land," he explained about plans for the formation of a federal army as contained in the charter.

"Although the CRPH has issued a federal democracy charter, the CRPH has also annulled the 2008 Constitution. We welcome that. We are satisfied to some extent with the charter to establish a federal union," he continued.

However, according to him, there are questions about how to overcome obstacles in the process of implementing the charter. He said that armed organizations have clear political backgrounds, objectives, and political areas. It would be pragmatic to form a federal army based on the existing ethnic armed organizations.

"We must defend and reject the injustice and violence of the military council. The federal army can be formed either by adopting a new constitution or based on existing armed organizations," he said.

Regarding reports of concerns that the CRPH will abandon ethnic armed forces, if Aung San Suu Kyi is released, he said many expected Aung San Suu Kyi to amend the 2008 Constitution.

"But there has been no real progress after five years. What's worse, the NLD (political party led by Aung San Suu Kyi) seems to get along well with the military. It not only ignores armed ethnic organizations but also adopts policies to suppress them. These things still haunt them. us, "he explained.

"However, under the current political landscape, if the CRPH is truly committed to implementing a federal charter, we need not worry. Aung San Suu Kyi may now understand, he mistook for changing the military, and his national reconciliation efforts have failed. have reason to be concerned, we assume, Aung San Suu Kyi understands this now, "he concluded.

Myanmar Coup. The VOI editorial team continues to monitor the political situation in that one of the ASEAN member countries. Casualties from civilians continue to fall. Readers can follow the news covering the Myanmar military coup by clicking this link.