Round two of ceasefire talks to start in May

 

The achievement will be a proof of political improvement in the country, amid hurdles that led Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to tell international community in Berlin that Myanmar is “not yet a democracy”.

On April 8, the government and the National Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT) - a coalition of 16 ethnic armed groups - closed the current round of negotiations on the ceasefire agreement on a positive note, after discussing a single draft of the agreement among various parties, including the military. The draft contains 7 chapters: Basic Principles, Aims and Purposes, Matters Concerning Ceasefire, Methods to Consolidate Ceasefire, Assurance of Political Discussions, Remaining Tasks, and General Provisions.

“We’ve discussed all the seven chapters. Although there was some dissent, the situation is still good. We have a draft of single text which reflects the opinions from both sides. We expect to finalise this in the first week of May - this will speed up the process. I’m sure peace is within arm’s length,” Lt-Gen Myint Soe told reporters.

Both the government and ethnic armed groups presented different drafts of a potential all-inclusive ceasefire agreement. The aim of the recently concluded talks was to try to merge various drafts into one document. Both sides have agreed to consult with respective leaders before continuing. 

Salai Hlan Hmone from the NCCT said “The negotiations in May will concern the usage of words from the government and us. They want to use the words which reflect the current situation,” he said referring to the use of terms such as “Armed Ethnic Groups” or “Federal,” which have different connotations for both sides.

“This first draft is not being consented by all. As I know, nearly 60 per cent got agreed to. The remaining [parts] still require further negotiation. Of them, about 10 per cent to 15 per cent are hard to accept by both parties,” Colonel Khun Okker continued.

The government and NCCT delegations expect to sign the ceasefire deal within May. 

The first discussions were held in November 2013, followed by the Hpa-an talks in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in January. Before this month’s discussion, they convened a meeting in March. 

As another hurdle to national development is soon to be cleared, Suu Kyi while in Berlin to accept a human rights award warned that her country, despite a spate of reforms hailed by the international community, "is not yet a democracy".

Thanking her international supporters for backing the cause of freedom, she cautioned that "Burma is not yet a democracy. We have been given the chance to build a democratic society, we have not yet built one.

"But because we have been given the chance, because we now have a choice, we are at a most sensitive, most dangerous time in the path of our evolution."

She stressed that the country still needs a democratic constitution, true national reconciliation and a change of mindset among its ex-military rulers.

She urged the world to keep a close eye on the government and to ask: "Does it want to go toward a truly democratic union or does it want to go towards an authoritarian state disguised in democratic garb?"

Suu Kyi’s desire to seek the presidency remains blocked by a clause specifically designed for her, which bars anyone with a foreign spouse or children from taking the position. Her late husband was a British national.

Suu Kyi pointed out that Myanmar's constitution also still "gives the military a very special role in the life of our nation", by guaranteeing its members a quarter of parliamentary seats and therefore political veto power.

"Unless we change the constitution ... so-called democratic reform in Burma will be no more than window-dressing," she said.

For a true culture of democracy to grow, she said, politicians have to learn to be accountable to the people, adding that: "Just because you change out of military uniform into civilian clothes, it does not mean that your mindset changes automatically."

Criticised over the past 18 months for her failure to comment on brutal sectarian violence targeting Muslims in Myanmar, as well as continued military attacks against ethnic minority rebels, she said "we have to face the challenges of tensions within our own country -? ethnic tensions, communal tensions".

On the road to national reconciliation, Myanmar's people have to "cope with our own fears and prejudices", she said, calling it a harder challenge than resistance to oppression.

"An authoritarian regime not only breeds fear, it narrows our outlook of the world in which we live," she said.

"After having kept to an extremely narrow path for decades, it is difficult for us to broaden our horizons. We will do it, we can do it, but it will take time."