"The Karen National Union held its 15th Congress at Lay Wah, 7 Brigade, on 26 November 2012. This congress heralded in a pivotal moment in the resistance group?s history as it occurred at a time of political in-fighting in relation to how best to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with the Thein Sein Government. The previous month had seen the incumbent KNU leadership, led by Tamla Baw and a number of hard-line leaders attempt to dismiss its military commander, General Mutu, its Justice Minister, David Taw and the head of the KNU?s humanitarian wings Roger Khin.1 The reason given for the attempted dismissal was the fact that the three had been: . . . repeatedly violating KNU protocol...The actions of some of the hard-line members of the Executive committee in attempting to dismiss the head of the army, and what was seen as an attempt by the leadership to remove the more moderate negotiators involved in the peace process, threatened to divide the organisation and derail the peace process. While the group was able to mend some of the divisions, large differences remained between the two factions. The timing of the dismissals occurred just before the KNU 15 Congress and the election to either continue the current leadership, or replace it. The results of the congress would decide not only the future of the Karen National Union, but also of the peace process in Karen State..."