In Myanmar, hardly a day passes without a report of another village, town or township being “liberated” by one or more of the ethnic resistance organizations ( EROs ) or People’s Defense Forces ( PDFs ) fighting to overthrow the nation’s military junta, the State Administrative Council ( SAC ).
While the news is usually viewed as a cause for celebration, it also creates a major problem: How will the newly liberated society be governed? Additionally, the US government has a chance to boost its deteriorating standing among Myanmar’s pro-democracy resistance movements.
The author had a meeting with about 50 members of the Chin National Front ( CNF), the CNF, and the CDF in November 2022, who spoke about their efforts to establish new local governments in the towns and villages. Before joining the military struggle, many of these CDF and CNF soldiers had worked as producers and teachers and had no prior experience organizing local governments. But, they all wished to establish a free and democratic state that reflected the hopes and aspirations of the local people.
A newly established research group, Chin Agency, has  , released a study  , of the emerging local governments in the areas of Chin State under CNF and/or CDF control. The report claims that the majority of native governments are created using a “bottom- up approach,” which involves regional leaders and CDF and CNF representatives.
In many cases, the resulting system of government reflects traditional methods of the local Chin tribes. Some of the fresh local governments use the military-imposed confines of Myanmar, while others establish new boundaries based on merged ethnic communities.
The local institutions ‘ structure is a unique feature of the report’s findings. A majority of local governments have three major bodies: a defense system, a criminal body, and an administrative body. In many cases, the court is a division that is in charge of the military and administrative body.
After the Love and PDFs ousted the local authorities and the military junta, comparable local governments are being established in different regions of Myanmar. As more and more of the states of Rakhine and Karenni are under their control, the Arakan Army ( AA ) and Karenni Army (KA ), respectively, are expanding their emerging governance systems.
The Kachin Independence Army and the Karen National Liberation Army are also expanding their long-standing governments to new areas of Kachin and Kayin ( Karen ), as well as portions of the neighboring divisions of Bago and Sagaing.
Local governments are being established in areas that the Kokang and Ta’ang consider to be their home states in the state of Shan by the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army ( TNLA ).
The issue of management is not only present at the local levels. The AA has stated that it wants to establish an automatic state-level government in Rakhine State. An interim executive government has been created by the KA and its political finger, the Karenni National Progressive Party, to oversee the state of Karenni.
Two distinct organizations have announced the establishment of transitional governments in Chin, which they refer to as” Chinland.” On December 6, 2023, the CDF, CNF and members of most of the Chin nations released a , intermediate Chinland Constitution , and formed the Chinland Council. Another party, led by the Chin Brotherhood Alliance, formed the , Chin Women’s Administrative Committee , on January 27, 2024.
Sources within the Chest community have informed the author that the proponents of both time governments are attempting to reconcile their differences regarding Chinland’s establishment of a state government.
Myanmar’s emergence of time automatic state governments has implications for the potential formation of a federal republic in the future. The Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw on March 31, 2021, announced that the majority of the Love and Documents do not accept the legitimacy of the Federal Democracy Charter and the National Unity Government ( NUG).
In discussions over potential new national republics in Myanmar will the automatic time state governments be consulted on if their respective territories expand and consolidate their authority.
This new reality was recognized in a , joint statement , issued by the CNF, the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP ), the Karen National Union (KNU), and the NUG on January 31, 2024. The statement explicitly discredits the Federal Democracy Charter, saying that” all related parties” will review and promulgate” a new law that exemplifies federalism and political values”
Additionally, it includes the creation of a” Transitional National Unity Government,” which may be different from the current NUG, in its action plan. The combined statement was no signed by the majority of the major Love and Files.
The presence of the AA, Kachin Independence Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, and TNLA is of special notice. The state’s three Venus, the Shan State Army-North, Shan State Army-South, and the United Wa State Army, are also absent. They each handle major portions of Shan. Regarding the possibility of creating a new national state in Myanmar, the Mon National Liberation Army and its political finger, the New Mon State Party, are at odds with where they stand.
The Biden administration’s conformity with SAC limits on humanitarian aid has harmed Myanmar’s weight movement’s perception of the US government.
If Congress and the Biden administration were to publicly offer technical assistance and guidance on how to form local and state governments in Myanmar, it may improve the popularity of the US government and, in some cases, lay the foundation for a potential democratic country.
Michael Martin works for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC as an adjunct fellow ( non-resident ). The author has kindly requested that this article be republished in accordance with the author’s authority, which Center for Security and International Studies and Pacific Forum recently published.