If Karen party members accept the army’s offer of jobs in the newly-created arm of the military junta, the State Administration Council, the Karen National Democratic Party (KNDP) will expel them, said Mann Aung Pyi Soe, Chair of the KNDP.
“The party received the offer in the last few days and the party held a discussion on that matter. The party decided to terminate the duties of any person included in the council”, he added.
At the meeting, the KNDP discussed the statements by the KNU Concerned Group (see previous BNI story) and harsh criticism by the Karen youth and the public over the inclusion of some Karen individuals over the appointment of ethnics in the military government.
The KNDP is a merger of three Karen State-based parties and some members of the Phalon-Sawaw Democratic Party (PSDP). Although the KNDP did not win any seat in the 2020 General Elections, it was the party which won the second-highest number of seats in the majority constituencies.
The KNDP faced a lot of criticism after one of their patrons attended a meeting of 34 smaller parties and the USDP at the invitation of the armed forces' chief before the elections. At that time, the officials explained that the patron’s meeting with the military chief was not authorized by the KNDP.
