Karen National Party (KNP) Joint Secretary 1, Mahn Myint Soe (aka) Mahn Min Ye Htwe presented party’s policy, stance and work programmes through radio and TV on 25 September.
Esteemed nationalities
I wish you all Mingalaba!
I am Mahn Myint Soe (aka) Mahn Min Ye Htwe, Joint Secretary 1 of the Karen National Party (KNP).
The vision of our party is as follows:
1. To express the desires of Karen people through democratic means;
2. To install the rule of law that guarantees social security for all nationalities;
3. To assure equality and self-determination for all the nationalities
4. To consolidate national unity that covers and represents the entire Karen people;
5. The emergence of a federal democratic Union, aspired by the national races;
Esteemed people
The following four points were adopted in drafting the Constitution at the first conference of the parliament on 16 June 1947:
1. Independent nation
2. Sovereign nation
3. Democratic nation
4. Union nation
But the Constitution that was promulgated on 24 September 1947 deviated from the Union system, as it adopted the unilateral system.
The civil strife that broke out as a result of the then AFPFL government’s use of military means in solving the political disputes the constitutional crisis had triggered has lasted for nearly a century.
Because of the civil strife, the nation lost its human resources and wealth and fell from one of the rich countries of Southeast Asia to a least developed country (LDC). But the worst is the spiritual deterioration caused by the loss of trust among the nationalities that may be unrecoverable for an immeasurable length of time.
Esteemed nationalities
At the conference on the constitutional amendment of Chapter 11 of the 1947 Constitution held on 1 March 1962, the united group of states suggested the modification of the Constitution through the use of the federal policy that represented a genuine Union.
U Ba Swe, leader of AFPFL (Stable) and Widura Thakin Chit Maung, leader of Pa-ma-nya-ta of the opposition group discussed against the idea of a federal Union. U Ba Swe insisted on the unilateral system, while Widura Thakin Chit Maung pointed out socialism as a means of social improvement for the entire people.
During the federal seminar three local dailies — Bama Khit, Ahtauktaw and The Nation – distributed false information saying that ethnic races were going to secede from the Union.
When only the military strength of a battalion and a half was left, and when Prime Minister U Nu’s administration was also dubbed “Yangon Government”, ethnic leaders, Sao Khun Cho and Sao Wunna, defended the Union with the military force formed with Kachin, Kayah, Chin and Shan. So, the issue of the federal Union was raised at the meeting, without any intention to leave the Union under the Chapter 10 of the 1947 Constitution.
Esteemed national people
The main requirement of Myanmar is:
1. Formation of the nationality states and the federal Union
2. The solving of the problem of internal strife through political means
The global situation proves that the acts to dominate one ethnic race by another leads to instability and a political breakdown in multi nation-states.
For example:
1. The breaking up of Czechoslovakia into Czech and Slovak republics
2. The secession of Croatia and Slovenia from Yugoslavia
3. The disintegration of the Soviet Union
On the other hand, the genuine federal Unions, including:
1. Switzerland
2. Australia
3. The United States of America continues to grow with political stability.
When we analyze the countries that broke up, we can find that they are:
1. authoritarian states
2. unions in name only
3. unions where the division of power between the central and the states is unequal
As Myanmar is a multi-nation-state, it must embrace the global culture of unity in diversity while acknowledging diversity as an objective condition.
A genuine Union is like a voluntary association, formed with unity and equality. In fact, a union does not exist by itself, only its units exit. So a union is a formation of the states.
The area of a state does not matter in establishing a union.
In the United States, the State of Georgia is much larger than the State of Rhode Island, and in Switzerland, the area of Zurich and Bern cantons are much larger than that of Basel-Stadt canton. Likewise, during the Soviet era, the size of Russia was many times larger than Estonia.
Moreover, the population does not matter in a federal Union. Nevada State in the US has a population of three million and Wyoming and Delaware states have a population of 900,000 each. Some of the breakaway states of the former Soviet Union have large or small Russian people. In 1998, Barcelona proclaimed self-determination that must be observed by global countries.
The benefits of a federal Union are:
1. A check and balance system between self-rule in the states and the shared-rule in the centre is protecting a federal Union from disintegration;
2. There is no racial problem thanks to the mutual recognition between the majority and minority;
3. In the federal system, all the citizens have equal voting rights, and all the units that form the Union also have equal voting rights regardless of their area. In this way, it embraces equality.
Military coups are impossible in a federal Union as it opposes Authoritarianism.
Esteemed national people
Let us build an unbreakable Union, and we pray for the soonest emergence of a genuine Union.
Mingalaba! May you all enjoy health and prosperity and may all your wishes be fulfilled. Thank you.
Ref; The Global New Light of Myanmar