Myanmar’s opposition rejects military appeal for talks on a political solution to the armed conflict

BANGKOK – The main group coordinating opposition to military rule in Myanmar on Friday rejected a surprise offer from ruling generals to hold talks on a political solution to the country’s nationwide armed conflict.

Nay Phone Latt, a spokesman for the opposition shadow government of national unity, told The Associated Press that a joint statement issued earlier this year by opposition groups had already paved the way for a negotiated political solution if the army agreed to its terms.

Padoh Saw Kalae Say, spokesman for the Karen National Union, which represents the Karen ethnic minority, said he too would not accept the military’s offer. The KNU has been constantly fighting for greater autonomy since Burma, then called Burma, gained independence from Britain in 1948.

“We see that their compelling offers are ideas from over 70 years ago. We will not agree to it and we will not discuss it, and looking back at the statements we have made repeatedly, I would like to say that there is no need to think about it,” Padoh Saw Kalae Say told AP.

The military bulletin “Offer to Resolve Political Issues by Political Means,” dated Thursday and published Friday in the Global New Light of Myanmar and other state-run newspapers, was his most direct offer for peace talks since taking power from Myanmar’s elected government. Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021

She stated that her opponents were asked to “contact the state to resolve political issues through party politics or electoral processes, so as to be able to join hands with the nation and emphasize lasting peace and development by rejecting the method of armed terrorism.”

The offer came five days before the military government began a census to compile voter lists for next year’s general elections. The elections are seen as a way for the military to legitimize its rule, although they would be difficult to organize in wartime, and critics see no way the polls could be free and fair. The ruling army originally announced that the elections would be held in August 2023, but has repeatedly postponed this date.

The offer by the military, which defended its takeover of power in 2021 and blamed subsequent unrest in the country on its opponents, came after the army suffered unprecedented battlefield defeats at the hands of powerful ethnic militias over the past year, particularly in the northeast. , along the border with China and in the west. Rakhine state.

The army is now on the defensive against ethnic militias in much of the country that want autonomy, as well as hundreds of armed guerrilla groups called the People’s Defense Forces, formed to fight for the restoration of democracy after the army took power.

The opposition’s political action plan, which includes talks, was signed earlier this year by the Government of National Accord and the three main ethnic armed organizations – the Chinese National Front, the Karenni National Progressive Party and the Karen National Union, all of which are engaged in an active fight against the military government.

The objectives of this declaration include ending military involvement in politics, placing all armed forces under the command of an elected civilian government, promulgating a new constitution incorporating federalism and democratic values, establishing a new federal democratic union, and establishing a system of transitional justice.

It calls for dialogue with the military leadership, but only after demonstrating unconditional acceptance of the plan to end military rule and peacefully transfer power.

It is unclear whether the military’s new offer was intended to cover all opposition groups, several of which have been officially classified as terrorist and therefore illegal.

Speaking to thousands of military personnel at the Armed Forces Day military parade in March 2022, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, head of the ruling military council, said he would not negotiate with “terrorist groups and their supporters for killing innocent people” and threatening peace and security.

He said the military – known as the Tatmadaw – would “destroy them until (the) end.”