Kantarawaddy Times
The state-based ethnic party, Kayah State Democratic Party (KySDP), in Kayah State has responded to an invitation from National League for Democracy (NLD), saying to co-operate with their parties because they have the same goal, that the ethnic party will join only if there is a clear and firmed agreement on ethnic issues.
The KySDP secretary said they would not trust with such statement because the NLD government could not implement the Panglong Agreement-federalism demanded by the ethnic nationalities during the last five years.
“In the past, there was nothing that could be done about ethnic issues although they got chance to play as a government. We also think that it will end up only with just the issuance of such a statement. If they really want to unite with the ethnic groups and want to build a federal system in this country, we are ready. I want to say that words and deeds need to be balanced. We could see that they have not been able to implement even the Panglong Agreement, which we consider as a stronger one. So the question is, to what extent they can fulfill and keep their promise to us with this single statement.” the KySDP party secretary, U The Reh, said.
The KySDP is a state-based party that has won eight seats in each parliament.
The National League for Democracy (NLD), which won the largest number of constituencies in the current election, issued a statement on November 12 inviting them to cooperate as they have the same goals as the ethnic parties in the next government.
The statement said that in the future, the wishes of the ethnic nationalities will be taken into account.
Monywa U Aung Shin, secretary of the National League for Democracy (NLD) Central Information Committee, told the Kantarawaddy Times that the announcement was made to form a government of national unity with the ethnic parties as a result of the election.
“We can not cooperate verbally. We have to make a lot of practical plans,” he said. Only then will we be able to work together. We will make practical cooperation. It’s not a collaboration on paper anymore, this is the kind of collaboration we’re going to make this time. I want to emphasize it.”
Monywa U Aung Shin, secretary of the NLD’s Central Information Committee, said ethnic parties were being invited to join the talks and that they would be able to talk about what to do only after the talks with ethnic groups.
Khun Bi Du, chairman of the Kayan National Party (KNP), said it was too early to comment on the NLD statement.
“We think we have to monitor the situation. They, the winner party, can form any government they want no matter it is. They will work out in detail who to invite and discuss. The duty of our party is to give our ethnic people an election. And the situation is like we are still rethinking how the best solution will look in the next five years. We can not say whether the details mentioned above will happen or not. That is why it is too early to comment. ”
In Kayah State, the NLD won 20 of the 34 constituencies, while the KySDP won eight and the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) six.
In the country level, the National League for Democracy (NLD) won 399 seats, and ethnic parties have 42 seats while the USDP won 32 seats.
