Rebel governance and People's Defence Forces in Myanmar

Presented by ANU College of Asia & the Pacific

This event is part of the 2022 MYANMAR RESEARCH CENTRE (MRC) DIALOGUE SERIES.

Before the 2021 coup, power sharing in Myanmar focussed on interaction between the National League for Democracy, military (Tatmadaw), and Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAOs)/political parties. These different actors had different preferences for the dynamics of power sharing between inclusive, dispersive, and constraining approaches. Since the coup, political and conflict dynamics have shifted significantly, especially with the emergence of a new phenomenon known as People Defense Forces/Local Defense Forces (PDFs/LDFs). In more than a year after the coup, over 300 groups have identified themselves as defense forces on social media and many of them are actively engaged in armed conflict, posting an unprecedented threat to the military's consolidation of its grip in post-coup era. This paper examines the phenomenon of PDF/LDFs and their impact on positions and preferences of the country's long-established elite political actors.

Speaker One: Samuel Hmung is a researcher specialising in power sharing in Myanmar. He received a Master of Political Science from the Australian National University's Coral Bell School of Asia and Pacific Affairs.

Speaker Two: Tamas Wells is Coordinator of the Myanmar Research Network at the University of Melbourne and writes on politics and development in Southeast Asia.

This dialogue will be chaired by Hunter Marston and Cecil Medail.

VENUE

The dialogues in the series will be held in hybrid mode, i.e., in-person on the ANU Campus, and virtually on Zoom.

IN-PERSON: PSC Reading Room, Level 4, Hedley Bull Building #130, Cnr Garran Rd and Liversidge Street, ANU, Acton, 2600 ACT
ONLINE: Zoom. Once you register here, you will receive access to the online event page in Eventbrite where you will find the join link for the zoom meeting. Please select the relevant ticket, in-person or online, according to your preferred attendance mode. We look forward to seeing you there.

For more information on the MRC 2022 Dialogue Series please see the MRC website https://myanmar.anu.edu.au/ or contact the Convenors