The present setup of 7 states and 7 divisions/regions is the first place that needs a redress. As, rightly or wrongly, the 7 regions are depicted as the areas dominantly populated by the Bamar ethnic group, which means the Bamar has 7 votes in a national decision-making process. And as such, fairness and equality in power-sharing is simply not there. Just like in the olden days after the independence from the British, from 1948 to 1962, the Bamar ethnic group has usurped the national political power in the whole union and acted as colonial master on its colonial subject.
Therefore from the 7 regions, incorporating some Bamar-dominated areas, creation of a Bamar state is needed. Others could become mixed national states, for example Rangoon region and Irrawaddy regions where ethnic groups are mixed with Karen and Mon; and Tanintharyi or Tenasserim where the Tavoyen are also mixed with Karen and Mon.
That was why there was a Federal Amendment Proposal in 1961 drawn by the endorsement of all ethnic nationalities, popularly known as Shan Proposal for it was spear headed by the Shan government and held in Taunggyi, which was tabled and discussed in the parliament in 1962. On 2 March 1962 the military launched a coup stating that the country is about to disintegrate, when in fact this was a last attempt to settle the political disagreement through peaceful political means.
The next thing is correcting the wrong concept of the Bamar political class and the Bamar-dominated military that today Burma is the continuation of the three Burmese empire, which the Global New Light of Myanmar labeled as the fourth union (it doesn’t use the word empire but the meaning is clear) built by Gen Aung San. In contrast, the non-Bamar ethnic nationalities see the country today as a new political entity established by virtue of Panglong Agreement voluntarily signed on 12 February 1947 between the Federated Shan States, Kachin and Chin Hills and the Burma Proper, which Karen, Mon and Arakan were also included during the British colonial period.
