If the military junta feels its power and interests are threatened, it tends to stage a coup with unjust justifications, and the entire populace has the right to defend and resist all injustices, says KNU Chairman

Yangon, July 16 If the military junta feels its power and interests are threatened, the entire populace has the right to defend and resist all injustices, said Pado Saw Kwe Htoo Win, Chairman of the Karen National Union (KNU). He made these remarks in a message sent on the occasion of the 79th anniversary of the Karen National Defence Organisation (KNDO), which falls on July 16. The coup on February 1, 2021, truly demonstrated the nature of the military junta, which tends to stage coups with unjust justifications whenever it feels its power and interests are threatened, he said. He noted that the military junta ignores the demands of other ethnic groups and the people, uses unjust means to maintain its power, and openly violates the inherent rights of the people and other ethnic groups. Furthermore, he stated that the coup military junta has no desire to build the country with a federal democratic system in line with the aspirations of the people and other ethnic groups. To maintain its power, it has attempted to hold sham elections, revive the 2008 constitution, and transfer power to the military junta and its associates. He pointed out that such actions are not solutions to political problems and will only further complicate conflicts and issues. The true solution to political problems lies in the withdrawal of military dictators from all political spheres, the end of the military dictatorship system, and the establishment of a federal democratic union system with full self-determination for the country's governance. Therefore, he urged that persistent efforts must continue to achieve full national equality and self-determination based on a genuine federal democratic system. He reminded the people that they have the right to defend and resist all injustices for the sake of a genuine federal democratic union. Since 1962, the military junta has seized state power and has been implementing military rule in various forms, either through a constitutional framework that vests power in the military, or through an extra-constitutional, lawless military rule system, and continues to rule oppressively to this day.