The Karen National Union issued a press release on September 1 announcing its choice to temporarily suspend its participation in the activities of the Union Nationalities Federal Council until the KNU’s central standing committee makes a more permanent decision on its continued participation in the coalition of armed ethnic groups.
The press release co-signed by Padoh Saw Kwe Htoo Win, general secretary of the KNU and Padoh Saw Tah Doh Moo, a KNU executive committee member, says the reason behind the decision is what they believe to be an attempted grab of sovereignty by the group over its members.
“The KNU objects to the UNFC holding decision-making authority over its members,” said Padoh Saw Tah Doh Moo.
“Karen policy has been based on the tenet that the Karen people will decide their own political destiny. We will not give that authority toanother organisation or people. This has been a guiding principlein Karen politics since the late 1940s,” said Padoh Kwe Htoo Win.
The statement said that the final decision over the KNU’s future participation would be taken in the “upcoming weeks.”
The statement added that the KNU’s decision would not affect its participation within the Nationwide Ceasefire Co-ordination Team, the body formed by the armed ethnic groups to negotiate with the government’s Union Peace-Making Work Committee over the draft nationwide ceasefire agreement.
In response to the news, Man Aung Pyi Soe, deputy chairman of the Phalon-Sawaw Democratic Party told Mizzima that the actions of the KNU should not be mistaken to demonstrate the wishes or opinions of the Karen people as a whole.
