The Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) announced that political problems and conflicts in Shan State will be resolved only if the 1947 Panglong Agreement can be implemented.
In order to implement the 1947 Panglong Agreement and solve political problems, 4 propositions were stated in the November 17 statement.
RCSS/SSA spokesperson Colonel Ohm Khay told Shan Herald that the current political problems stemmed from actions that deviated from the promises and agreements of the Panglong Treaty.
“Political problems have not been resolved until now due to decades of evasion from the agreement and commitment reached at Panglong”, he suggested. The RCSS/SSA commented that it is impossible to solve the current political problems and internal conflicts solely depending on the results of the 2020 election, and that the main causes of the political problems should be solved.”
“ RCSS/SSA does not want to comment on opinions that the current political problems are related to the 2020 election. The main thing is that the current crises can only be solved if the SAC (the Military Council), political parties, academics and experts from all sides work together and coordinate”, Colonel Ohm Khay added.
This is also the period when the RCSS/SSA announced that they would like to cooperate with ethnic organizations and ethic armed groups to discuss and find a solution for peace.
But the RCSS/SSA statement fails to make any mention of the ongoing war, the NUG and the EAOs engaged in a revolution against the military junta, with precisely the objective of implementing a new version of the Panglong Agreement.
RCSS/SSA is an organization that attended the peace talks 2 times organized by the coup Military Council leader who rigidly stands by the military- drafted 2008 constitution.
Shan analyst Sai Wansai summed up the problem in his analysis for Mizzima “ It is problematic that while the SAC is running so-called “peace talks, its military is practicing scorched-earth policies in attempts to neutralize its enemies, in the wake of their illegal February 2021 coup.”
