The friction between PDF and LPDF in Pale Township; power and governance problems

Myanmar Spring Chronicle – December 19 Scenes
MoeMaKa, December 20 2022

The friction between PDF and LPDF in Pale Township; power and governance problems

The friction between the NUG People’s Administration and the Bo Nagar from a locally formed armed force has become public. In recent days, there has been discussion online on the media pages between PDF under the NUG called People’s Defense Force (PDF) and Local People Defense Force (LPDF) formed by themselves in the region, with a difference of opinion, a difference in procedures, and frictions related to the issues of power in solving the local governance and problems.

According to the media, it was known that this kind of friction has been going on since before public discussions like this. The NUG, which is legitimate and responsible for the whole country, should deal with issues among the armed groups that will attack the military council, so that it does not come to a situation where it is resolved through public media pages at those levels. In recent weeks, there have been disagreements from both sides about this matter, and soon it appeared on the media pages to get a mutual settlement.

It is not a good prospect that this has happened between the groups that will have to form an alliance to overthrow the military dictator. The fact that these regional organizations are having disagreements and speaking publicly shows that the revolution has gone beyond the status of not being organized under a single administration and has come to a situation where each individual group is fighting for the power of governance.

It has revealed that, for NUG, there are lessons to be learned from the incident and urgent tasks to be done. There is a possibility that it will happen not only in Pale Township, Sagaing, but also in other areas. There is no such problem in the areas dominated by ethnic armed groups, but there is a possibility that such problems will occur again in Upper Magway and Sagaing regions where mostly Burmans live and are active. This shows that it is an urgent problem that needs to be addressed.

After the armed forces emerged on their own, in areas where the military council did not rule, when administrative bodies were formed behind them, power problems arose to coordinate with the armed forces that had already formed before them.

Big questions arise about how the NUG will take control over the armed forces at the lower levels and how to hold them accountable with its power and responsibility. Watching this public briefing is beneficial to know the situation at the bottom, but is it necessary for all the audience to know? Moreover, it gave the military council an opportunity to detail the friction between the PDFs, which indeed paved the way for counter-propaganda.