EAOs and PDFs “are invited to contact the State to resolve the political issues through party politics or electoral processes in order to be able to join hands with the people to emphasize durable peace and development by discarding the armed terrorist way,” the SAC said in a statement published on 26th September. We observed that there were six instances in the statement where the military refer to the EAOs and PDFs as “terrorists.”

The Offer was Swiftly Rejected by the NUG, EAOs, and Rebel Forces

National Unity Government (NUG)’s spokesperson Kyaw Zaw told Radio Free Asia (RFA) that “the terrorist junta council’s invitation to our revolutionary forces to abandon the armed path and discuss this is just a bogus offer,” and that “It has never intended there to be political dialogue and now it’s making this deception just to sound good and look good internationally,” also adding that if the military was sincere, it would stop its “terrorism that is killing the people” and get out of politics altogether.

Chin National Army also dismissed the offer as “unacceptable,” according to RFA.

In an immediate response to the invitation, Karen National Union (KNU) spokesperson Padoh Saw Taw Nee said that the military’s invitation is based on the “old ways of thinking” and will only “perpetuate the military dictatorship.” He also said that KNU is open to dialogue only if the military accepts the three objectives to withdraw from politics and serve under the future civilian government; to accept a federal democratic constitution; and to be held accountable for the crimes committed against civilians.

Maung Saungkha, the Bamar People's Liberation Army (BPLA) leader, told Reuters that his group is "not interested in this offer".

"They are hanging goat’s heads but selling dog meat," Soe Thu Ya Zaw, commander of the Mandalay People’s Defense Forces, wrote on Facebook, quoting a Burmese proverb and implying that the junta’s invitation is insincere.

Naing Naga, spokesperson for the Mon State Revolutionary Force (MSRF) told the Than Lwin Times that, “a civilized society already knows that a political problem must be solved through political dialogue. However, the fact that the terrorist military council offers a peace dialogue, after killing, torturing and jailing civilians, is a joke.”

Aung San Myint, Secretary (2) of the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) also told the Than Lwin Times that, “they are an army that illegimately seized the power. Therefore, we think that they do not have the legitimacy to offer political dialogue.”