KNPP declines to join political talks based on NCA framework

The Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) stated that it will not take part in any political talks based on the 2008 Constitution, which entrenched the military’s dominant role in politics, or the National Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) framework.

It said the NCA agreements also pave the way for the military’s participation in politics, and therefore it will not accept talks held within the NCA framework, KNPP added.

The KNPP’s response came after junta leader-turned-president Min Aung Hlaing said at a cabinet meeting on April 20 that his administration would invite ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) to political talks.

“We believe that sticking to the NCA framework would take us away from our goal of building a federal democratic union. We’ve not seen any real political commitment in the 43-point national accord under the NCA. Like the 2008 Constitution, the NCA also opened the door for military involvement in politics. So, for us, any dialogue based on the same old NCA framework simply won’t work,” said U Aung San Myint, general secretary of the KNPP.

Min Aung Hlaing said he would like to invite both NCA signatories and EAOs that did not sign the NCA to political talks before the July 31 deadline. He expressed his intention to invite organizations such as the Karen National Union (KNU), Arakan Army (AA), Chin National Front (CNF), and All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF), and said that initiatives such as the 43-point national accord had already been implemented during the original NCA discussions.

The 43-point national accord he referred to consists of the economic and social principles agreed upon by NCA signatories at the Union Peace Conference – 21st Century Panglong. The KNPP argued that the agreement provides no political guarantees, focusing only on economic, women’s affairs, and environmental issues.

The agreements under the NCA are rooted in the 2008 Constitution and safeguard the military’s dominant role in politics, which is why political forces are rejecting them.

U Aung San Myint alleged that although Min Aung Hlaing has offered peace talks, the junta’s actions in practice contradict his words.

“He has offered peace talks, but the junta’s airstrikes and artillery attacks across the country, including our state, have not stopped. How can we sit at the same table and talk about peace in such a situation? It’s impossible to talk to someone whose words and actions don’t match,” he said.

Min Aung Hlaing has set a deadline of July 31 for meetings with EAOs and warned that his regime will take necessary action after that period.

He also urged fighters from the People’s Defence Force (PDF)—which emerged after the public chose to take up arms in response to the junta’s post-coup brutality—to lay down their arms before July 31.