About 30 former servicemen and retired officials staged a protest in Yangon October 19 saying the Myanmar Army should be based on a federal system, according to retired army captain U Nay Myo Zin.
U Nay Myo Zin, from the Myanmar Social Development Network, who led the protest, said: “We urge the authorities to reform the Army in order to become a ‘Union Army’ that the citizens want. According to the policy established by General Aung San, we want an army that will be able to represent all national ethnic people and that can gain the respect of the citizens.”
The protest was staged in front of Yangon City Hall at 10 am on October 19. The protesters held placards urging the authorities to build an army that would make the late hero General Aung San proud.
“The ‘Union Army’ that we are demanding is an army based on the federal system. Only if the army proportionally includes all national ethnic people, will the army be a ‘Union Army’,” said U Nay Myo Zin.
According to the protesters, the federal system that the people of the various national ethnic people want is based on democracy, equality and autonomy. They claim a truly federal “Union Army” can guarantee a federal system.
The Myanmar Social Development Network issued a statement on October 19 urging the authorities to release political prisoners and prisoners who were servicemen, and to reform the Army in order to gain the respect of the citizens. The statement also called on the armed forces to amend the 2008 Constitution.
Foreign governments, such as the United States and the UK, are engaging with the Myanmar government over army training and reform.
In the third week of October, the United States Ambassador to Myanmar Derek Mitchell said in a meeting with journalists that there have been discussions about professionalizing the Myanmar Army, noting that they have discussed human rights laws, controls on civilians, correct orders and discipline, transparency and building capacity.
Ambassador Mitchell said there was nothing to hide in his government’s engagement with the military, stressing Washington has not offered technology and weapons to the Myanmar armed forces.
U Nay Myo Zin said to mark the 100th birthday in November of the late General Aung San, who is the founder of Myanmar Army, they will educate people about the revered general’s objectives and the history of the country’s armed forces.
