Various insurgents and armed ethnic groups have been fighting against the military junta since a coup ousted Suu Kyi’s government in a coup.
Myanmar’s military junta government has called on the rebel groups to lay down their arms and engage in political dialogue, but the rebels have refused.
Myanmar has been governed by the military-backed State Administration Council (SAC) since the ouster of Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in a military coup in February 2021.
Violence erupted in Myanmar after the February military coup. Recently, armed ethnic groups and rebel People’s Defense Forces (PDF) have been fighting with the army in various parts of the country.
In such a situation, the call of the insurgent groups to sit in dialogue to solve the political problem on the part of the junta government is considered to be particularly significant.
Moreover, the junta government has called on the rebels to participate not only in peace proposals for dialogue, but also in elections planned for next year.
But Myanmar’s anti-junta National Unity Government in exile (NUG) says the junta’s proposal is not worth considering. The NUG also said the junta government had no jurisdiction to hold elections.
Armed groups have taken control of large swaths of Myanmar since the offensive began in October last year when they joined forces to carry out major attacks.
According to some reports, junta forces now control less than half of Myanmar’s territory. As a result, the military is now under tremendous pressure to end the fighting.
In this situation, on Thursday, the junta government called on the rebels to resolve the problem through dialogue. But the rebel groups are not inclined to accept this call so easily.
The Karen National Union (KNU), a rebel group that has fought Myanmar’s military for decades, said talks could only take place if the military agreed to accept some general political demands, the BBC reported.
One of them is: There can be no military involvement in future politics. Second: Both parties must agree to a federal democratic constitution.
And thirdly, the military must be held accountable for everything it has done so far…war crimes and crimes against humanity. They will not get any discount in this regard.
If the junta government does not accept these demands, the KNU will put pressure on them politically and militarily, said the rebel group’s spokesperson.
The Bamar People’s Liberation Army, another ethnic rebel group in Myanmar, has also said it is not interested in the junta’s offer of peace talks.
The military has killed at least 5,706 people and detained nearly 21,000 since the military coup, according to the watchdog group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
UN investigators said last month that the army’s crimes against humanity had increased at an ‘alarming rate’.
Generals have vowed to hold fresh elections after claiming election fraud to restore Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) to power.
They offered to engage the rebels in dialogue as part of efforts to hold elections, noting that the census is scheduled to begin on October 1 to “verify the voter list”.
The junta government has not yet set a date for the elections, but announced strict new electoral laws in January 2023.