The five ethnic political parties from five states, Kachin, Kayah, Karen, Chin, and Mon held a three day meeting to discuss plans to cooperate with other ethnic parties.
The meeting was held at the Summit Parkview Hotel in Yangon from December 7th to the 9th and was attended by leaders from the Kachin State People’s Party (KSPP), Karenni State Democratic Party (KSDP), The Karen National Democratic Party (KNDP), and the Chin National League for Democracy (CNLD) and the Mon Unity Party (MUP).
“We share the same view that all ethnic parties need to unite before the 2020 election, and the five parties will seek ways to achieve such a coalition,” said Mai Layea Tamah, Joint Secretary (1) of the Mon Unity Party.
The KSPP Chairman Dr. Tu Ja said the leaders of the five parties have not yet reached a concrete decision, but that they had discussed the possibility of holding an ethnic parties conference before the 2020 election.
“There is no confirmed agreement yet. We share the same view and ideas. We are building unity and understanding each other so that we can build a strong trust. We have discussed the chance of convening an ethnic political party conference,” Dr. Tu Jar added.
Emphasizing caution coming from some participants attending the meeting, Salai Pi Pi, a Secretary of the Chin National League for Democracy (CNLD), said “However, our party has our own stand. We are certain that there is no decision to join the parties yet,”
Other attending members defined the discussion as not necessarily an alliance, rather an ethnic parties forum.
Rakhine and Shan parties did not participate in the meeting.
According to the Union Election Commissions’ website, 52 out of 96 official political parties are ethnic parties.
