An interview with Colonel Min Tun, the head of the Arakan National Council (ANC)and the Commander-in-Chief of the Arakan Army (AA).
February 23d, 2022
At present, Myanmar politics is very complex. Along with the military coup, the armed conflicts continue to spread to the country. Nowadays, the aspiration of the armed revolutionary groups and Myanmar people is to overthrow the military regime and to build a federal union.
It is a common goal. So it is interesting what kind of the federal system the armed revolutionary groups want. The DMG interviewed Col Min Tun, Chief of the Arakan National Council (ANC) and the Chief of Staff of the Arakan Army (AA) based in Karen State, about his view on the current situation, stance, the future federal dream of the ANC based in Karen State and the AA and the military council’s peace process.
Q: May I know the current military and political undertakings of the ANC/AA?
A: We continue walking on our principle of ensuring the national equality and self-determination which is the objective of the ANC/AA. There are clashes between the AA and the military council troops in the territory of our ally.
Q: May I know the ANC’s role in the anti-dictatorship revolution journey?
A: We are working for national equality, self-determination, democracy and human rights by means of public participation and armed revolution. This is the ANC’s participation in the armed revolution against the military dictatorship. We are working on our principles rather than the anti-dictatorship revolution.
Q: Currently, the military council is talking about the federal system. The National Unity Government (NUG), some Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAOs) and the People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) including the AA said they would focus on the federal. What are differences and hindrances although all groups are on the same path in general?
A: The people are talking about the federal system in the Bamar State. For instance, the politicians talked about the left-wing ideas after World War II. The oppositions, rebels and the government talked about the People’s Democracy and Socialism at that time. But in practice, there were big differences in essence. As a matter of fact, our ethnics and Arakanese people thought that the federal system was the means used by the Bamar political forces. However, most of the Bamar people said throughout history that the federal system was a secession. The Bamar people viewed other ethnics are demanding what they want to secede from the Union due to their narrow political view, thoughts and religious thought.
Q: What kind of federalism does the ANC/AA want?
A: The federal system aspired by the majority of non-Bamar ethnics is the formation based on the national states. Our principle is we can secede from the union according to self-determination if we have no rights to base on national equality. Now most ethnics are talking about the federal democracy rather than the federal. Under the constitution, it must be a country based on national equality. The government must govern the country by democratic means. In the past, the National League for Democracy (NLD) talked about federal democracy. The NLD’s first priority is democracy. The next step is federal democracy. The desire of the majority of non-Bamar ethnics is that federalism and democracy is like the head and tail of a coin. We cannot designate which face will appear first. We need to implement it simultaneously. In our view, the federal affair is a top priority. This is a gap between us and the NLD. The gap between us and the military is the military is just paying a lip service.
Because the rights the military can give to the highest degrees in its political process is enshrined in the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). The NCA is based on our three main national causes. From there, the military said it must be in accord with the political dialogue. The military has not adopted the path to build up a federal democracy without fail. The military said the process must be in accordance with the results from the political dialogues and based on our three main national causes. When we talked about national equality and the constitutions of the States, the military told us not to split from the union. I think the military wants us to keep it in mind as a limit. The military’s federal will be the same in terms of glossary but greatly different in terms of essence.
Q: It is found that the military council is inviting the EAOs to the peace process according to the NCA. What kind of dialogue do you want if the AA chooses the peace talk?
A: I think the military has no reason to invite us to the peace talk. Because, the military has a rancour. Because we did not sign the NCA and made a strong criticism. So, we have already said that there is no reason to go ahead with the NCA. However, it is difficult to predict the politics. It may change based on the situation. Our participation will not be significant if the military continues to walk on the NCA path in essence. Or else, the military continues to work on the principle like the NCA. In practice, the NCA has no significant essence. The NCA is ambiguous. No result comes out after they buy the time.
Q: The military council has said that it would grant self-determination based on the federal. On the Union Day Ethnics are invited to the talk without any restriction. No decisions were made at the discussion. Why did not the military’s invitation achieve success? May I know your view on it?
A: The Panglong conference was held based on the NCA. The NCA did not reach the complete stage agreeable to both sides although both the military and ethnic armed organizations took time for the NCA for around two years. Now the military said there is no restriction. We understand we can say anything. The military will listen to what we say. No more than that. We have experienced the similar condition in parliament as well as at Nyaunghnapin National Convention. We can say what we want. The military will just listen to it. The military will say what it wants and it will walk on the path it wants. The military will say we can demand what we want practically. But don’t demand the confederation. There is a common sense that the groups cannot get what they want by taking up arms. So, I assume that the lack of restriction is just lip service. As a matter of fact, the way of discussion under the framework did not bring about any results. The fact that we can talk without any restriction is viewed as an informal round-table talk. In my view, the military persuaded the ethnics to attend the Union Day in terms of politics.
Q: May I know your view on the federalism proposed by the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) and the NUG?
A: We are worried that the public may misunderstand the NUCC and the NUG. It may be that they don’t know much about it as it is an English glossary. The NUCC is not the NUG. The NUG includes the NLD. The NUCC is broad. The NUCC was formed with the parliamentary forces which won the 2020 General Elections. They formed the government. It is a combination of the CSOs outside the parliaments and the EAOs. We are not included in the NUCC and the NUG. We attended it as an observer. It is not a strange thing that they agreed to the federal principle. This is the principle which are coordinated among ethnic armed organizations in the past. It is found that they are not in a position to talk about the federal broadly. They can just say they agree to the principle. It is not in a position to transparently say which organizations are included and who lead it. For instance, they are not in a position to give a message to the public. Another point is they need to have a firm and clear political agreement and transparency.
Q: Which message do you want to convey to the public about Arakan politics?
A: The people in Arakan State don’t forget it. It is found that they have nothing to do with the politics in Bamar. Arakan State sees no battles when fighting is taking place in other regions and states, vice versa. However, we will continue to participate in the Bamar politics in practice although we are not involved in it. It is impossible to get out of it today although we have a desire to work on a separate path. Because we have been engaging in a political and social system for more than 200 years. We still have to operate under this system. The armed organizations turn to the political dialogues while the political parties join hands with the NUG. They might even cooperate with the military council. It shows that we cannot be estranged from this politics in practice although we have a burning desire.
Now, we need to choose the correct means. In practice, the people are engrossed in dissipation as the Arakan State has peace. There is roll-the-dice gambling. There are even funfairs in the rural areas. Now the COVID-19 infections are reported. The military has stopped offensive operations in Arakan State. As a matter of fact, the military’s focus is on the NUG and the NLD. The military will shift its focus to the Arakan State after it. We need to be cautious about politics, military affairs, national unity and social affairs and make a lot of preparations.
Sent by Aung Htein (DMG)
