“There are no ethnic armed organizations which seek what they want by violent means. We had to choose armed struggle because we could not achieve our political aspirations by peaceful political means,” he said.

He was speaking after Mizzima asked his comments regarding what Aung San Suu Kyi had said on January 1 in Naypyitaw at Myanmar International Convention Centre 2 (MICC-2). Suu Kyi had said, “The reason for choosing violent means is their belief that it will give them what they want easily. In the short term they will get what they want by armed struggle but it is strange to see why they do not draw lessons from WWII which says in the long term they will fail.”