The Karen National Union will meet next month to decide its status with the United Nationalities Federal Council, KNU general secretary Padoh Kwe Htoo Win told Mizzima on September 2.
The election of a Karen National Union representative as deputy chairman (2) of the UNFC would not influence the KNU's decision whether to remain in the 12-member coalition of armed ethnic groups, Padoh Kwe Htoo Win said.
The KNU would decide in October whether it would continue to participate in the UNFC, from which it suspended its membership on August 31, he said.
Padoh Kwe Htoo Win's comments follow a walk-out by KNU delegates at an UNFC meeting which began in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on August 25.
The five KNU delegates withdrew from the meeting on August 31 because of a disagreement over the restructuring of the council's constitutional framework, said UNFC general secretary Naing Han Thar.
On September 1, the KNU issued a statement saying it had decided to suspend its membership with the council because it objected "to the UNFC holding decision-making authority over its members".
UNFC sources told Mizzima on September 2 that Lieutenant-General N'Ban La of the Kachin Independence Organisation was re-elected chair of the council, the New Mon State Party's Nai Hongsa was chosen deputy chairman (1) and the position of deputy chairman (2) had been reserved for a member of the KNU.
There have been reports that the walk-out was linked to factional tensions within the KNU.
