Following the announcement, Burmese aviation, with the support of Chinese planes, bombed the city of Lashio, controlled by ethnic militias. Representatives of the NUG and the various armed groups that have been fighting the junta for three years rejected the offer, stating that it was a “political maneuver” dictated by difficulties on the ground.
Yangon () – Myanmar’s ethnic militias have rejected a peace offer from the military junta, the first since the outbreak of the civil war in 2021. The army, responsible for the coup d’état that paved the way for a conflict that until has now caused the death of at least 50,000 people, according to the United Nations, published a statement on September 27 in the pro-military newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar in which he called out all armed groups (dubbed “terrorist rebel groups”) to “resolve political problems politically” and also urged them to participate in the next elections.
The Government of National Unity (GUN) in exile, on which the Popular Defense Forces (FDP) depend, rejected the offer and stressed that the Junta does not have the authority to call elections. The military had initially announced that the elections would be held in August 2023, but repeatedly postponed the date. They had also planned to start a new population census on October 1, in anticipation of the elections. But, according to experts, this would be impossible to carry out due to the extent of the fighting and would only serve to recruit the civilian population into the ranks of the army, exhausted after three years of war.
NUG spokesperson Nay Phone Latt also reiterated that former government MPs and some opposition groups (the Chin National Front, the Karenni National Progressive Party and the Karen National Union) had already submitted their own peace proposal to the army at the beginning of the year, which was quickly rejected. It consists of a series of preconditions that the army must accept for talks to take place, including the end of any involvement in politics by the military, the command of a civilian government over the armed forces, the promulgation of a new constitution that incorporates federalism and democratic values, the establishment of a new federal democratic union and a transitional justice system.
«What we see is that their offers are ideas from more than 70 years ago. We will not accept them or discuss them, and thinking about the statements we have made repeatedly, I would like to say that there is no need to think about it,” said Padoh Saw Kalae Say, spokesperson for the Karen National Union.
Myanmar’s successive governments, including that led by Aung San Suu Kyi, ousted in the coup, have repeatedly signed ceasefires with various factions of armed groups. But in this case, the ethnic militias seem determined not to reach an agreement.
Lway Yay Oo, spokesperson for the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), stated: “The idea that armed groups will abandon their fight and participate in the elections, as proposed by the junta, is completely unrealistic. At a time when they are losing territory and facing military defeat, this measure aims to boost the morale of their troops and shift to a political strategy. “It is nothing more than a political maneuver.”
A few hours after the military’s announcement, Burmese aircraft attacked the city of Lashio, capital of Shan State. At least two civilians were killed in the bombing of the market and residential areas. The city is currently administered by the Lashio Reconstruction Group, created by the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), which liberated the city along with other armed groups after a month of fighting. For about a year now, the military has been recording losses in territories along the border areas, the same places over which ethnic militias have been claiming control for decades. But at the same time, according to The Irrawaddy, Chinese arms supplies continue: last month, for example, six more fighter jets were delivered to the military junta.
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