NCA Framework Cannot Dictate Karenni State’s Future, Says a Resistance Leader

The Myanmar military regime’s renewed call for peace talks under the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) will not determine the future of Karenni State, according to Khu Daniel, deputy defense minister for the resistance-led Karenni State government.

Speaking at the 11th anniversary ceremony of the NCA signing in Naypyitaw on October 15, junta leader Min Aung Hlaing invited non-signatory Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAOs) and anti-coup People’s Defence Force (PDF) fighters to lay down their arms and join state-sponsored talks.

Khu Daniel rejected the offer, emphasizing that the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP)—a major revolutionary organization in Karenni State—never signed the NCA before the February 2021 coup and regards the pact as entirely void.

He noted that any engagement with the regime would require a consensus within the Steering Council for the Emergence of a Federal Democratic Union (SCEF), a broader opposition coalition, rather than a unilateral decision by the KNPP.

"As an organization actively resisting the regime, we will not respond to its invitation," Khu Daniel said, adding that the KNPP might only consider a peace process that moves forward through an alternative framework independent of the NCA.

The junta has repeatedly hosted NCA-related forums and negotiations, proposing to channel resulting agreements through the military-controlled Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (Union Assembly) for phased implementation.

Attendees at the October 15 ceremony included representatives from six remnant NCA-signatory groups: the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), KNU/KNLA-Peace Council, New Mon State Party (NMSP), and Lahu Democratic Union (LDU).

Resistance forces continue to reject both the NCA and the military-drafted 2008 Constitution, maintaining that genuine political dialogue requires permanently ending the military's involvement in politics.