Myanmar’s armed resistance rejects junta’s offer of negotiations
After the announcement, Myanmar’s Chinese-made jets bombed Lashio, a city controlled by ethnic militias. The government-in-exile and various armed groups fighting the junta for the past three years dismissed the proposal as a “political manoeuvre” due to the difficulties on the ground.
Yangon (AsiaNews) – Myanmar's ethnic militias have rejected a peace offer made by the ruling military junta, the first since the outbreak of civil war in 2021.
The military, responsible for the coup d'état that has killed, according to the United Nations, at least 50,000 people in the ongoing conflict, issued a statement last Friday published in the pro-military newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar, calling on "rebel terrorist groups", which is how the junta refers to the armed resistance groups, to “resolve political issues in political means” and take part in future elections.
The National Unity Government (NUG), the government-in-exile set up by lawmakers from the overthrown democratically elected government, rejected the offer and stressed that the junta does not have the authority to call for elections. The People's Defence Forces (PDF) are NUG’s armed wing.
The military had initially announced elections for August 2023, but had to repeatedly postpone them. As part of the plan to hold a vote, the junta announced a census, set to start on 1 October.
According to experts, with fighting taking place in several parts of the country, a census is nigh impossible. Among ordinary people, this would only serve to draft civilians into the army, worn out by three years of war.
NUG spokesperson Nay Phone Latt reiterated that lawmakers from the overthrown parliament and some opposition groups (Chin National Front, Karenni National Progressive Party, Karen National Union) had presented their peace proposal to the military at the start of the year, which was promptly rejected.
This peace proposal includes a series of preconditions that the military must accept for talks to start; they include an end to any kind of involvement in politics by the military, civilian control over the armed forces, the establishment of a new democratic federal union based on a constitution that reflects federalist and democratic values, and a transitional justice system.
“What we see is that their inviting offers are the ideas from more than 70 years ago. We won’t accept and discuss it, and looking back at the statements we have repeatedly expressed, I would like to say that there is no need to think about this,” said Padoh Saw Kalae Say, a spokesperson for the Karen National Union.
Over the years, Myanmar's successive governments, including the one led by Aung San Suu Kyi ousted in the coup, have repeatedly signed truces with various armed groups. But in this case, the ethnic militias seem determined not to do the same.
For Lway Yay Oo, spokesperson for the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), “The idea that armed groups should abandon their struggle and participate in elections, as proposed by the junta, is completely unrealistic. At a time when they are losing territory and facing military defeat, this move is aimed at boosting the morale of their troops and shifting to a political strategy. It’s nothing more than a political manoeuvre.”
A few hours after the announcement by the military, its air force bombed the city of Lashio, the capital of Shan State, with at least two civilians killed when a local market and residential area were struck.
The city is currently run by the Lashio Reconstruction Group, set up by the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), which liberated it along with other armed groups after a month of fighting.
For about a year, the military has been reporting losses in the territories along the border areas, the same places over which ethnic militias have claimed control for decades.
Meanwhile, The Irrawaddy reports that China continues to supply weapons to the junta, delivering, for example, six more fighter jets, last month.
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13/10/2022 14:26
