An MP from Burma’s democratic government ousted during a coup over two months ago told a group of protesters gathered in a township in eastern Kayah State that the road to peace begins with a federal democracy.

Ko Tu Reh, who won a seat in the House of Nationalities in Hpruso Township during the 2020 race, said that ethnic nationalities in the Southeast Asian country have demanded federalism for over 70 years.

 

To promote our own culture, he said “we want to rule our own state”.

“Federalism is not the same as secession… Peace will be restored in our country if our country adopts a federal democratic system,” Ko Tu Reh told almost a thousand people who joined the peaceful demonstration against the military regime in Hpurso Township on April 15.