SUMMARY
The Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) was a political organization founded on 2 May 1957. The primary aim of the KNPP was, initially, to create an independent Karenni state with the right to self-determination. However, the KNPP later modified its demands to instead focus on the creation of a federal union in Myanmar. The KNPP was based in Kayah state, which is historically known as 'Karenni state'. The military wing of the KNPP was called the Karenni Army (KA). Its troop strength was estimated at approximately between 500 and 1 500. Soon after its establishment, it became the leading ethnic armed organization in the territory.
The Karenni struggle dates back to the drafting of the constitution in 1957 which gave the right of secession to Karenni state. However, after the independence of Union of Burma in 1948 the new government failed to follow its promise. Subsequently, the Karenni independence movement started. U Bee Tu Re formed a nationalist faction, which declared the independence of Karenni state. He later got assassinated by the Union Military Police in August 1948, which strengthened the nationalist agendas of the Karenni people. The resentment towards the government further deepened in 1951, when the AFPFL government changed the territory’s name from Karenni state to Kayah state, which is after one of the biggest ethnic sub-group in the territory, undermining the Karenni unity.
Against this backdrop, the KNPP was founded, and a year later in 1958, it established an alliance named National Democratic United Front (NUDF) together with CPB. Under the leadership of Saw Maw Reh, the KNPP started to move away from its leftist alliances. This move was strengthened by the formation of National Democratic Front (NDF) in 1976. The NDF was an alliance of nine ethnic groups, and sought to establish a federal union. Being a member of NDF became a turning point for the KNPP. Although it still had members who were seeking independence, its main political goal moved towards federalism. The change in its political goal was followed by its split from CPB in 1978. This led to the formation of a breakaway faction called Karenni Nationalities People’s Liberation Front (KNPLF), and joined in alliance with CPB.
In 1995, the KNPP and the government of Myanmar (Burma) agreed on a ceasefire which was broken three months after the KNPP accused the military mistreating the civilians in its territory. As a reaction, the government ordered civilians to move out of the KNPP territories (Kayah state), and the government threatened that any civilians who refused to relocate were to be treated as enemies. Even though some of the townships within Kayah state were almost depopulated, the KNPP maintained its control over its territories. Furthermore, the KNPP allied with the KNU on the Thai border. After the ceasefire agreement failure, the KNPP suffered three defections: Karenni National Democrati Party (KNDP) in 1995, Karenni National Peace and Development Party in 1999, and Karenni National Solidarity Organization (KNSO) in 2002. The breakaway groups, especially KNPLF, backed with the Myanmar military and supported military operations against the KNPP. However, even though the KNPP faced internal splits over time, it continued to support united fronts with other anti-government forces.
The government of President Thein Sein came to power in March 2011, and declared that they would work on the relationship between the government and the ethnic armed organizations. The positive move led to seven ethnic armed groups to either renew their ceasefire or sign a ceasefire. The KNPP signed the ceasefire agreement on March 7, 2012. However, the KNPP’s military activities had largely subsided many years before the agreement.
