In a move that some analysts have suggested indicates the weakening grip of power by the ruling State Administration Council (SAC), SAC member Daw Doi Bu and U Hkyet Hting, the state chief minister, met with locals during a recent trip around Kachin State, urging them not to engage in criminal activities or support the armed resistance.
In mid-September, they addressed the public in meetings held in Putao and Bhamo towns, emphasizing support for SAC’s policies over the exiled National Unity Government.
During the Putao meeting, an anonymous local attendee shared that religious and cultural leaders were briefed about the Military Council’s political policies and their implementation. The pair also traveled to Machanbaw.
Prior to this, the duo conveyed the same message to Kachin Christian leaders and representatives of the Kachin Literature and Culture Committee for Bhamo District at Mya Thida hall in the town of Bhamo. The Kachin Literature and Culture Committee mentioned plans for a Manau festival in Awng Tha ward this November.
“They want to reach the Kachin community in Bhamo through Christian leaders. It is evident that the Military Council is facing a crisis,” an anonymous source from Bhamo told KNG.
Since July, many people have been affected by the fighting between the Burma army and the Kachin Independence Army in Daw Hpung Yang sub-township of Bhamo District.
According to an anonymous Kachin political analyst, the Military Council is striving to navigate its current political, economic, and social crisis.
“In many aspects, they are losing, including in politics and economics. The ongoing armed struggle is not merely between armed groups—it is the people fighting against this dictatorship.”
The analyst mentioned that no one supports the military regime. Therefore, even if the regime provides some assistance to the people in Kachin State, he emphasized that the people must reject it and “cut off the roots of dictatorship in this country”.
