The Karen National Union (KNU-Taungoo District) will not accept the administrative mechanisms to be set by the State Administration Council (SAC), according to its statement on February 25th, Brig-Gen Saw Dae Phoe, head of KNU Taungoo District (Brigade-2)

The KNU chief for Taungoo District elaborated “The KNU’s ceasefire agreement with the Myanmar government was signed nine years ago. No political agreement has materialised till now. We will reject the SAC plan to set up administrative rules of the army in the KNU-controlled Karen villages.”

All the Karen territory that has been under KNU control prior to the 2012 ceasefire Brig-Gen Saw Dae Phoe explained will now be returned to full KNU administration and local elections held inside their communities. He said “The administrators of townships and villages and officials of the General Administration Department now under the military‘s SAC shall no longer get involved in the administrative work and demonstrate their opposition to the military coup.”

The same policy will be pursued by all KNU sectors in harmony with the statements by the KNU (headquarters) in solidarity with the anti-coup protestors and the CDM movement.

“We also would not accept any moves towards reactivating the 2008 Constitution by the CRPH, a body of the elected MPs who were prevented from forming the new parliament by the February coup. Brig-Gen Saw Dae Phoe said The CRPH has been formed with elected candidates who won seats in 2020 General Elections, and are trying to get the reversal of power after connecting the organizations at home and abroad.

While ethnics protesting the coup have made the scrapping of the 2008 constitution and have no wish to see this obstacle to a federal union restored, many in the NLD are pushing a different line that focuses on the restoration of this widely detested constitution.