CNI News

19 June 2025

U Khun Sai, a peace activist, told CNI News that if the role of ethnic minorities in Myanmar's political landscape continued to be dwarfed, the country would become uncontrollable.

They agreed to go for a federal system, but in reality they created a unitary system. Currently, they are working on rebuilding a federal system instead of a unitary system, saying that the central government should have more power. If they continue like this, Myanmar will never be at peace, he said.

If Myanmar keeps only 'our three main national causes' and ignores the Panglong Agreement, politics will become more complicated than it is now, said U Khun Sai, who is involved in the peace process. 

"If we continue to marginalize the role of ethnic minorities, the country will eventually become unmanageable. It will fall under the rule of other countries. If this happens, it's no one's fault. It's all our fault. It's because the wound was treated with the wrong medicine" he said.

The Panglong Agreement was signed on February 12, 1947, and although the Burmese government initially adhered to the provisions of the Panglong Agreement, it later deviated from the basic principles of the Panglong Agreement, pointed out political observers. 

While the Peace Talks-2025 was being held

Although ethnic groups are a minority, they live in more than half of Myanmar's area.

Military and political observers point out that the role of ethnic groups has been important in Myanmar politics since before independence, and has been important not only militarily but also politically in Myanmar politics for more than 4 years now. 

Sai Htay Aung, chairman of the Tai Leng (Shanni) Nationalities Development Party (TNDP), told CNI News that if more ethnic minority representatives from ethnic parties could enter the parliament, ethnic issues could be discussed more.

“For example, let’s take the issue of amending the constitution. If representatives from ethnic parties enter parliament and speak about ethnic issues, and if they succeed in parliament, armed groups will also start thinking about whether armed resistance is effective or parliamentary politics is effective. According to  Hluttaw politics, the federal government will relax Article 261, and the state chief minister must be elected by the state Hluttaw and approved by the president. If  they will amend the constitution in Hluttaw, and if they will be able to amend it, I hope that Myanmar's politics will improve considerably. The ethnic groups are fighting for their rights," he said.

While seeing ethnic groups

Currently, there are ongoing clashes between the Myanmar military and ethnic armed groups across Myanmar, but peace talks are only being held with groups that have signed the NCA.

However, military and political observers point out that the peace talks and political dialogues are merely a show , failing to reach agreements that would resolve Myanmar's politics, and that the discussions are unrepresentative due to the lack of participation from the stakeholders that should attend.

Furthermore, ethnic armed groups had been discussing the establishment of a federal and democratically-based union from 2011 to 2020, but after 2021, when the political landscape of Myanmar changes, they are waging battles with the expectation of a confederation or establishment of new countries. Currently, the SAC chairman is preparing to hold elections in December 2025 and January 2026, after more than 4 years.