Myanmar’s NUG and Four Ethnic Armies Form Unified Resistance Command

Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG) and four major ethnic armed organizations have launched a new leadership body to coordinate political and military strategy in the struggle against military dictatorship.

The Steering Council for the Emergence of a Federal Democratic Union (SCEF) was formed on Monday by the NUG, the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the Karen National Union (KNU), the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) and the Chin National Front (CNF).

In his address announcing the formation of the SCEF on Monday, NUG acting president Duwa Lashi La described the new body as a “milestone” in the Spring Revolution against the Myanmar military.

The new leadership body formed days before the installation of a military-backed government set to be led by Min Aung Hlaing—chief of the military regime that SCEF members have fought for the past five years.

KNPP secretary‑general U Aung Hsan Myint told The Irrawaddy that the six groups agreed to establish the council as a step toward synchronizing political and military efforts after years of fragmented coordination.

“We are implementing political and military strategy in parallel,” he said. “Militarily, we aim to accelerate the armed revolution and push for victory as quickly as possible. Politically, we intend to present a united front to the international community and advocate collectively. On federalism, this process is designed to build consensus for a genuine federal democratic union.”

The SCEF marks the second major attempt to build a unified political structure among anti‑junta forces since the 2021 coup. The National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) was created shortly after the coup, bringing together elected lawmakers, political parties, civil society groups, CDM networks and several ethnic organizations.

But internal disagreements and operational challenges weakened the NUCC, prompting the KNU and KNPP to suspend their membership in November 2025, while the NLD and the Kachin political coalition KPICT withdrew in 2022.

With the NUCC stalled, the same core actors—the KIO, KNU, CNF, KNPP, CRPH and NUG—have now regrouped under the SCEF. The move drew both support and criticism, with some welcoming it as a necessary step toward consolidation of resistance but others questioning whether another umbrella body can overcome the coordination problems that hampered earlier efforts.

“When goals align, new alliances emerge,” said a political analyst. “Ethnic armed groups have formed and re‑formed alliances for decades. No group can guarantee success, but trying is better than doing nothing.”

Leaders say the SCEF will be structured around three main pillars: ethnic states and armed organizations, the public, and women. Its stated objectives include ending military rule, removing the armed forces from politics, placing all armed groups under a democratically elected civilian government, abolishing the military-drafted 2008 Constitution, drafting a new federal democratic charter, and building a genuine federal union. The council also pledges to implement transitional justice for victims of wartime abuses.

It vowed to “dismantle all forms of dictatorship, protect ethnic identities, and guarantee equality and self‑determination for all nationalities.”

U Aung Hsan Myint said the new body aims to fill a leadership gap that has persisted throughout the five years since the coup. “From 2021 to 2026, we have not had a body capable of guiding the entire country politically and militarily,” he said. “Everyone understands the need for such a structure now. This is only the beginning.”

The body has emerged as the junta prepares to install a new government stemming from its staged general election, with Min Aung Hlaing stepping aside as commander‑in‑chief ahead of his expected election as president by the military-controlled Parliament.