Myanmar Resistance Forces Reject Junta's NCA-Based Peace Talks
Myanmar resistance forces have rejected peace talks convened by the military junta under the National Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) framework. They argue the 2008 Constitution-based process cannot resolve the country’s political conflicts and will only prolong the military dictatorship.
Resistance leaders outlined their stance during a recent panel discussion titled “Is dialogue the answer?”
“If we proceed according to the terms of the NCA, the junta will achieve its goals of maintaining its grip on power, securing legitimacy, and keeping the 2008 Constitution in place,” said Nai Banyar Mon, a steering committee member of the New Mon State Party–Anti-Dictatorship (NMSP-AD).
“It will be like killing three birds with one stone. That is why the junta keeps insisting that peace talks must follow the NCA path.”
Resistance forces consider the 2021 military coup to have effectively nullified both the 2008 Constitution and the NCA. The military regime, however, continues to cling to both frameworks.
The junta is currently meeting with ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) that maintain friendly relations with the regime or have agreed to ceasefires. Meanwhile, some actors have called on resistance forces to enter into dialogue with the junta.
U Aung Moe Zaw, chairman of the Democratic Party for a New Society (DPNS), warned that these calls ignore the reality on the ground. “Talk about dialogue has become quite loud lately, and I think that is a problem,” he said. “Lobbying for this kind of dialogue attempts to undermine the actual political and military conditions unfolding across the country.”
The junta held a ceremony in the capital, Naypyitaw, on October 15 to mark the 11th anniversary of the NCA. Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing used the event to invite anti-regime EAOs to join the talks and urged post-coup People’s Defence Force (PDF) fighters to lay down their arms. However, he excluded major revolutionary political forces, including the parallel National Unity Government (NUG).
Resistance leaders argue the junta’s peace offers lack substance.
Naw Nge Nge, secretary-1 of the Karenni National Youth Organization (KNYO), said the regime's talks offer no guarantee of tangible results.
“The junta keeps repeating words like peace, dialogue, and national reconciliation,” she said. “But it continues to cling to a failed peace process. There is no guarantee that this kind of dialogue will produce any good results.”
P'doh Saw Ler Ner, a central committee leader of the Karen Youth Organization (KYO), described the talks as a one-sided charade. “Junta-organized peace talks are nothing more than participants going where junta officials dictate, listening to what they say, and praising them,” he said. “You cannot object when the junta kills civilians and carries out airstrikes. You have to sit there and listen without questioning anything.”
Resistance groups maintain that the junta’s invitations are political ploys designed to prolong authoritarian rule rather than genuine attempts to resolve the conflict.
Consequently, they stressed that efforts must remain focused on eradicating the military dictatorship.
The resistance groups said a true federal democratic system can only be established after authoritarian rule collapses,
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