The Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) has called upon other parties, armed resistance groups, and Myanmar’s parallel government to work together to form a federal army.
Sai Leik, a spokesperson for the party, which is the largest in Shan State, said the time was also ripe to publish a federal constitution because public appetite for such a system was at an “all time high” in the wake of the military’s February 1 coup.
The Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) should work together with a broad coalition representing Myanmar’s many ethnic groups to achieve federalism, he added.
“To put it bluntly, when a lot of people in Myanmar’s mainland come to understand that federalism is not separatism and it can lead to greater unity, we should push the idea harder,” he told Myanmar Now. “Pushing it harder means that we should focus on the emergence of a federal constitution.”
He noted that the CRPH, mostly made up of NLD MPs who were unable to take their seats, had announced the formation of an interim government before publishing a new constitution. It would be better if the new constitution could be drafted first, he said.
“At this time, the public spirit is at an all-time high. While the word ‘federal’ is widely accepted, we should start making efforts to have a federal army and a federal union. We should act bravely and decisively,” he added.
Colonel Khun Okkar, leader of the Pa-O National Liberation Army, said that insurgent groups should form a powerful political and military coalition to negotiate with the CRPH.
“We ethnic people have groups that communicate with the CRPH individually, and it would be more convenient if we could communicate as an ethnic coalition,” he said.
Late last month the CRPH formally announced the abolition of the military’s 2008 constitution and said that it would form an interim government.
