Yawd Serk, leader of the anti-Naypyitaw Shan State Army (SSA) ‘South’, who was on Sunday re-elected Chairman of the group’s political arm, the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), gave a different slant on his controversial Independence stand when he said, “Independence doesn’t mean we are for secession.”

“It means we want to set up a genuine federation,” he told the 10th annual meeting attended by 286 members, advisers and observers.  “In a genuine federation, all must enjoy equal rights.”

His speech was obviously aimed at satisfying both his hard core supporters on the one hand and his allies and neighbouring powers, especially China, which prefers a unified Burma on the other.
Yawd Serk speaking at the dinner party on 17 January, at Loi Taileng , Photo: Arn Tai (SHAN)

Incidentally, he is not the first non-Burman ethnic leader to say that. A prominent ethnic activist living in the West and calling for the re-establishment of Burma in a federal system once told SHAN, “To become a federal state, all members must be equal, which means they must be equally independent.”

The meeting also resolved to confer him with the military rank of Lieutenant General. He was twice urged in the past to accept the promotion. On both occasions, he had turned down the proposal. During his acceptance speech, he warned, “We need to understand that rank is a sword with two edges. Some people may say it is appropriate and long due but others may accuse me as a status-monger.”

His immediate deputies were also among those promoted:
•    Vice Chiarman #1        Sai Yi                    Major General
•    Vice Chairman#2         Kherh Ngeun        Colonel
•    General Secretary#1     Siri                       Lieutenant Colonel

Among the remaining 153 promoted, two were commissioned and 151 non-commissioned. The SSA ‘South’ is 8,000 strong, according to a senior officer.

Vice Chairman Sai Yi, who has been assigned to oversee military affairs of the group, praised his boss and long time comrade in arms, “When the Mong Tai Army (of Khun Sa) surrendered (in 1996) and his army disintegrated into several armed factions, it was him who was able to regroup them. And when most of the areas along the Thai border fell into the hands of the Burmese Army, it was him who was able to seize and set up new, strong bases.”

Among the 14 resolutions adopted at the meeting was the draft law which requires every able-bodied man, 18 to 45, to enlist with the SSA for at least five years. “Among those recruited last year was 64 males and three females who were under 18,” read the annual report. “We transferred them all to the school in Loi Taileng.”

Lt Herng Fa, head of the 800 plus student high school with 31 teachers, confirmed the report. “Now we are in need of more teachers,” he said.

The school offers bed and board for more than 200 children without parents who join it. One quarter of them are females.

The meeting, held in Loi Taileng, opposite Maehongson’s Pang Mapha district, lasted four days, 15 to 18 January.