A member of the Executive Committee of the Mon Unity Party has stated that the military junta has failed to take any action in response to the proposals made by the 7 EAO Alliance, a coalition of seven ethnic armed organizations that are signatories to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA).
The alliance issued a five-point proposal on May 5 following a two-day meeting to address the country’s deepening political, military, economic, and social crises.
A member of the Central Executive Committee of the Mon Unity Party said that the military junta has not taken any action regarding the proposals made by the 7 EAO Alliance, a coalition of seven ethnic armed organizations that have signed the ceasefire agreement.
The 7 EAO Alliance issued its joint statement on May 5 following an online two-day leadership summit on April 29 and 30. The proposals include a nationwide ceasefire without preconditions, a mutual pledge to establish a federal democratic union, the formation of a transitional government based on federal democracy, the drafting of a federal democratic constitution, and holding elections in accordance with that constitution.
“No one—neither outsiders nor the military junta—has said that the proposals they submitted are good. However, since there is no interruption in the path the military junta themselves laid out, it’s not typical of them to cancel such a plan and pursue a different one. But to put it clearly, the military junta is simply not taking any action,” he added.
The 7 EAO Alliance held a two-day leadership meeting on April 29 and 30, during which leading members, secretariat members, and coordinators from various working committees joined the discussions online. As a result, they were able to finalize the five proposals mentioned above.
Regarding the two-day discussion, Colonel Saw Kyaw Nyunt told IMNA, “The meeting involved a process that has never existed before in our coalition. From our perspective, we call it a five-stage federal democracy transformation plan. However, we don’t yet have a concrete roadmap for it. The reason is that overcoming the conflicts and crises happening across the country is not something that can realistically be done just by the seven groups alone.”
He added that the alliance is also working to engage with international stakeholders to address the humanitarian crises brought on by both armed conflicts and natural disasters.
The 7 EAO Alliance consists of the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), New Mon State Party (NMSP), Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army Peace Council (KNU/KNLA-PC), Lahu Democratic Union (LDU), Pa-O National Liberation Organization (PNLO), and the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP).
