He made the comments at the 28th anniversary celebrations of the DPNS held at Sri Rama Krishna Hall in Rangoon on 14 October.

He said: “We are making our request to the authorities, especially the Commander-in-Chief. Normally we would be making our demands to the president. We should be telling our rulers to halt the wars in the country, but what is unique in our country is that it is unclear whether the government is one or two groups, so we are making our request to the Commander-in-Chief to halt the fighting in the country.”

U Aung Moe Zaw also said that peace is crucial if the country wants to become developed and stand dignified and tall and that the causes of the civil war need to be solved because without peace there will be no democracy.

Over 100 people attended the DPNS anniversary celebrations. They held a political roundtable discussion entitled ‘Genuine Peace’ chaired by the United Nationalities Alliance (UNA) secretary Sai Nyunt Lwin. The panel members were Dr Yan Myo Thein, Kyun Pyan Yebaw U Kyaw Soe, and author Tun Win Nyein.

Sai Nyunt Lwin said: “In the last session of the 21st Century Panglong [Conference], most of the organisations didn’t give priority to union issues and state issues. They only gave priority to their own organisations, parties, and people. This is very sad. At a time like this, the first priority should be given to our country or union. I want to say that we will not have peace if we only prioritise discussing our own issues.”

Students and youth activists from the 8888 Uprising established the DPNS on 14 October 1988. When the party was banned by the Burmese military government after the 1990 election the party’s leaders fled to the Thai-Burmese border and continued their political activities from there.

The party officially re-registered in 2014. Its headquarters are in Seik Kan Thar Street in the Kyaukthada Township of Rangoon.

Reporting by Saw Tun Lin for KIC News
Translated by Thida Linn
Edited in English by Mark Inkey for BNI