Lieutenant General Yawd Serk will once again helm the Committee for Shan State Unity. The umbrella organization announced the leadership transition during an annual meeting in Chiang Mai on May 4 and 5.
The leader of the Restoration of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) takes over from Khun Htun Oo, chair of the Shan State Joint Action Committee.
The CSSU was established in 2013 to boost cooperation among Shan organizations. Lt Gen Yad Serk was one of the founders, and chaired the group previously from 2015-2016.
“This CSSU was founded with Lieutenant General Yawd Serk’s idea. So I believe he can serve his duties well,” said Sai Leik, spokesperson of the CSSU and secretary of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD).
The leadership of the CSSU was supposed to proceed alphabetically from the RCSS, to the Shan Nationalities Development Party and then to the SSJAC. But the SNDP said it was not ready to take up the position in the previous leadership selection, so Khun Htun Oo stepped up instead.
At the annual meeting held last week, the CSSU pledged to push for amending the 2008 constitution.
“First, we need to strive for a constitution which is needed for the Shan State. We plan to work on this with everyone at the Union-level political dialogue,” CSSU’s spokesperson Sai Leik told reporters at the annual meeting.
In his inaugural speech, Lt Gen Yawd Serk pledged to continue strengthening ethnic Shan unity.
“We have expectations about unity. We desire it. That’s why we need to serve our duties to strengthen solidarity. All of us have the responsibility to work to this end. We need to educate those who do not understand and agree to solve problems together. The CSSU will try to become an umbrella that can cover everyone,” he said.
Translated by Thida Linn
Edited by Laignee Barron
