KNU: Burma Must Replace Armed Forces with Union Army
By Network Media Group
August 14, 2023
During an online press conference, the Karen National Union (KNU) announced its four political objectives, including the creation of a federal democratic nation and a Union Army without the current armed forces. The 10 August conference outlined the KNU accomplishments the first 100 days since the 17th KNU congress when members of the group’s central committee were elected.
KNU general secretary Padoh Saw Ta Doh Moo said, “It is imperative to establish a Union Army without the current Burma army, which must disengage from Burma’s political affairs. Secondly, we must draft a new federal democratic constitution. Thirdly, the implementation of transitional justice is essential. Lastly, we need to secure the participation of the international community at all stages of the new nation-building process.”
The KNU asserted that successive governing bodies had failed to foster an all-inclusive approach to nation-building since Burma’s independence, and they had rebuffed the demand for federalism voiced by ethnic groups. Consequently, the neglect of these ethnic demands had led to armed conflicts in Burma.
The inability of previous governments to resolve the challenges of nation-building has also cast its shadow over the ongoing Spring Revolution. The KNU’s general secretary affirmed that to address this political conundrum, the current Burma army must cease its involvement in politics.
“In the aftermath of the military coup, the Spring Revolution emerged. It is crucial to recognize that the Spring Revolution is a repercussion of the nation-building failure, given that all ruling governments are unable to solve political problems in the country. It’s vital to solve root causes of this political problem. To do this, the current Burma army must disentangle itself from politics and pave the way for the establishment of a federal democratic nation.”
Since 1962, the Burma army has held state power and coercively forged a nation, manipulating ethnic and religious issues to secure its power. The rights to self-administration for ethnic groups have been consistently denied by all the previous governments.
“Burma has forfeited its democracy and the rights of its ethnic communities. These two issues must be solved at the same time rather than separately. Yet, the current Burma army obstructs this.”
Ethnic armed organisations and the civil resistance groups have been engaged in fierce confrontations with the Burma army since the coup and until now. Upon resolving the political impasse, these groups can cooperate to construct a federal democratic nation, complete with a federal army excluding the country’s current military, he said.
