CNI News

16 May 2025

The proposal to draft a Federal Democratic Union Constitution by the 7 EAO Alliance that is made up of seven ethnic armed organizations  is raising questions about whether it is envisioning the emergence of a new constitution, not the 2008 constitution. 

The 7 EAO Alliance should clearly present their proposal of drafting a new constitution to the SAC, the Arakan Front Party (AFP) Chairman Dr. Aye Maung told CNI News.

"The SAC will need to be clearly informed whether the goal of the 7 EAO Alliance is to have a constitution based on federalism and democracy, or whether the 7 EAO aims to create a new constitution that is in line with federalism and democracy, since the 2008 Constitution does not provide these answers. A general election will be held by the National Defense and Security Council and it will hand over power to the elected government." he said.

While seeing the proposal of the 7 EAO Alliance

The 7 EAO Alliance convened a meeting on April 28-29, 2025, and proposed to the SAC to develop five points. The five proposals are: (1) All parties to the conflict to declare a nationwide ceasefire without prior conditions, (2) Commitment to building a federal democratic union among stakeholders, (3) Formation of a federal democratic transitional government, (4) Drafting a federal democratic union constitution, and (5) Holding elections in accordance with the federal democratic constitution.

The Tatmadaw has already accepted the constitutional amendment, and when the Hluttaw convenes after the election, it can be amended; if a new constitution is to be drafted, it can be done through a referendum, said U Myo Set Thway, general secretary of the People's Pioneer Party (PPP), to CNI News.

The 7 EAO Alliance

“The 2008 constitution and election only contain a small part of federal and democracy, but they lack the true essence. So if we are to establish a federal and democratic country, the constitution must be amended, and the current SAC and the Tatmadaw have already said that they will amend the constitution. However, these things can only be resolved in Hluttaw. Otherwise, it is not easy to resolve them in other ways. So, after the election, we should amend the constitution in Hluttaw. Or if we want to rewrite the constitution from scratch, we should hold a nationwide referendum and then rewrite it." he said.

The Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) stipulates that a union based on democracy and federalism will be built in accordance with the results of political dialogue.

Members of the 7 EAO Alliance that have proposed to draft a Federal Democratic Union Constitution are the RCSS, PNLO, NMSP, LDU, DKBA, KNU/KNLA-PC, and ALP (now renamed ALPR) that have signed the NCA.

The SAC has said that elections will be held in December 2025 and January 2026.