Burma’s ethnic Kachins prefer a political dialogue with the Burmese junta rather than transforming the Kachin Army to the regime-proposed Border Guard Force, said Kachin leaders.

No official statement has been released even after the week-long  meeting of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) in its headquarters in Laiza, Kachin State, near the China border. However it is keen on seeking a political dialogue with the junta rather than commit to the BGF, according to KIO central committee members in Laiza.

A KIO central committee member in Laiza told Kachin News Group today, KIO delegates are going to meet Maj-Gen Soe Win, commander of the Northern Regional Command based in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State before the end of this week.

At the meeting, the KIO will not provide a clear answer as demanded by the junta on transforming its armed-wing the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) to the Burmese Army-controlled BGF. However it will continue to seek a political dialogue, added the KIO official.

“We cannot accept the BGF because Kachin people have rejected it,” a KIO central committee member in Laiza said,
The two sides met at least 10 times on the BGF since April last year but nothing came of it.

KIO blames the junta for the failure of the meetings because the junta supremo Snr-Gen Than Shwe is not budging from his BGF proposal to all ethnic armed groups.

Meanwhile, military tension is escalating near KIO territories in Kachin State and Northeast Shan State after the junta’s deadline of February 28 for transforming KIA to BGF expired.

Meanwhile, KIO’s proxy political party the Kachin State Progressive Party (KSPP) led by former KIO Vice-president No. 2 Dr. Manam Tu Ja is now into vigorous election campaign among residents of Myitkyina city, said local people.

The party is not yet an official outfit but it is authorized to campaign around Kachin State by the Burmese junta, according to party leaders in Myitkyina.