Introducing the Arrangement for Transitional Constitution (AFTA)

As the Spring Revolution has championed "ending military dictatorship and building a federal democratic union", discussions on the constitution have been taking place since February 2021. Revolutionary forces have rejected and opposed the 2008 Constitution, controversially adopted under military dictatorship, and revolutionary organizations have declared it void. During the revolution, Parts 1 and 2 of the Federal Democracy Charter have been issued and used as a constitutional framework. The roadmap set out in the charter also includes, as one of its stages, drafting a constitution for the post-revolutionary transition period during the revolution itself.

How It Emerged

The National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) formed the Transitional Constitution Working Group (TCWG) on July 11, 2022. The National League for Democracy (NLD) and the Kachin Political Interim Coordination Team (KPICT) were part of the working group when it was formed, but the NLD later stopped participating. After its formation, the working group did not publicize its work, but in May 2025 the NUCC announced that in-person and online meetings had been held since September 2024. Through that statement, it officially announced the start of drafting the Arrangement for Transitional Constitution (AFTA).

The Common Position of Groups Jointly Fighting to End Military Dictatorship and Build a Federal Democratic Union

To trace the shift from a transitional constitution to AFTA, it is necessary to revisit the common position issued on January 31, 2024, by the "groups jointly fighting to end military dictatorship and build a federal democratic union". The organizations that issued the position are the Chin National Front (CNF), the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), the Karen National Union (KNU) and the National Unity Government of Myanmar (NUG).

The statement includes six goals: ending the Myanmar military's involvement in politics; placing armed forces under civilian government; completely abolishing the 2008 Constitution and fighting any attempt to revive it; drafting and enacting a constitution based on a federal and democratic system accepted by all stakeholders, and building a new union through it; and achieving justice for those who suffered abuses during the conflict. The statement also includes drafting and enacting a transitional federal democratic constitution as a sub-process.

Bottom-Up Federalism

On February 12, 2025, the KNU, KNPP, CNF, the New Mon State Party (Anti-Dictatorship) (NMSP-AD), the Karenni State Consultative Council (KSCC), the Pa-O National Federal Council (PNFC), the Mon State Federal Council (MSFC), the Ta'ang Political Consultative Committee (TPCC) and the Women's League of Burma (WLB) issued a statement announcing that AFTA was being drafted.

In an interview with Burma News International (BNI) in February 2025, Nang Moe Moe, spokesperson for the nine ethnic resistance organizations and state/ethnic-based federal councils, said AFTA is a drafting process for the transitional period and a first step toward bottom-up federalism.

She explained that AFTA is only for the transitional period and will automatically become void once a federal union constitution is adopted, and that the federal constitution will be drafted based on it.

Negotiations are under way with other political and revolutionary organizations. AFTA is intended for the union level; while it differs from the constitutions being drafted by individual states, it will connect with them without contradiction. It has also been agreed to include provisions on human rights violations in AFTA for transitional justice, and the details are still being discussed.

The statement says they are steadfastly working toward a federal union made up of states with democracy, national equality and full self-determination; that they are working on additional endorsements of the common position, which contains six political goals, nine positions and six processes, and on broader participation; and that they will not accept a "holding together" federal system that would re-strengthen centralization, but will build the union in practice based on a "bottom-up federalism approach", strong states building a strong union.

The NUG's Involvement

The NUG, which is part of the Transitional Constitution Working Group (TCWG), discussed AFTA at its cabinet meeting 9/2025. Prime Minister Mahn Win Khaing Than urged that regions and federal units are working hard to establish governments, and that establishing administrative mechanisms is an urgent priority for the transitional period; that the federal transitional arrangement process being prepared by revolutionary leading groups must be pushed forward vigorously; and that, since it is important for the union and federal units to move in balance and in step, government officials should encourage the groups involved in the AFTA process.

The AFTA Drafting Process

On May 25, 2025, the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) issued a press release on the Transitional Constitution Working Group (TCWG) and the drafting of the Arrangement for Transitional Constitution (AFTA). The press release described the AFTA drafting process as follows.

‍How AFTA Will Be Adopted

In an article titled "Federal Transitional Arrangement Picks Up Pace", published on July 5, 2025, Myanmar Now reported that once AFTA is approved by the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC), a Pre-Federal Conference will be held in which all current political groups will take part, and those who have not yet been able to join for various reasons will also be invited.

It reported that the political, military and federal unit arrangement agreements emerging from the conference will be approved by the federal conference, and that through the conference the NUG government will be reformed before the military council's sham election into a complete and stronger interim transitional government. The article also stated that the transitional government must then adopt and enact a constitution embodying federal democracy, the goal of the Spring Revolution, and transfer power to a democratically elected federal government and the relevant state governments. However, there has been no official announcement yet.

Conclusion

The AFTA process appears to have been revived in mid-2024 and has become a meeting point for the main mainstream revolutionary forces in 2025. It can also be said that mainstream forces hope to present it to the public and the international community both as a political path before the election the junta intends to hold and as a vision for future nation-building. The draft has not yet been released, and since a draft can only be strong if the public can take part in discussing it, how this will be done needs to be watched closely.