Leaders of ethnic armed groups meet next month
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Will debate nationwide ceasefire draft
Leaders of ethnic armed groups will convene a conference next month to debate and decide on the nationwide ceasefire draft, ethnic leaders said.
The draft has been jointly written by the Union Peacemaking Work Committee (UPWC) and the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT).
The conference was earlier scheduled for this month at Mongla, east of Shan State but that failed to happen.
Mongla was the venue picked by ethnic groups but Union Minister Aung Min, who is in charge of peace negotiations, made a counter proposal for Techilek. Sources in the NCCT said the conference venue remained an undecided issue.
“We will have the ethnic conference in June before the meeting with the government’s UPWC. Despite earlier arrangements, the conference did not materalise,” said Padoh Saw KweHtoo Win, the NCCT delegate.
“We do not have the right to decide where the conference should be held. Such a decision is under the United Nationalities Federal Council,” said Colonel KhunOkkar of the NCCT.
In pushing for the speedy conclusion of the nationwide ceasefire process, the NCCT proposed that the government help organise the conference for top ethnic leaders preceding the UPWC-NCCT peace talks on May 21 in Yangon.
But the government agreed to the conference on May 23, the last day of talks.
“We assisted in previous Laiza and Lawkheelar conferences organised by the ethnic groups. With positive attitudes, we will continue supporting further conferences in a bid to achieve internal peace and the signing of nationwide ceasefire deal,” said Union Minister Aung Min, the vice-chairman of the UPWC.
The government and the NCCT discussed the first draft, which was consolidated into the single version from May 21-23. This led to the agreement on the second draft. Both sides agreed to hold peace talks in June to finalise the drafting.
“We are like a team. In previous sessions, we exchanged documents upon arrival at the meeting hall,” Dr Salai Lian Mhone, of the NCCT, said to government representatives on May 23. “Now it is a different matter. We will have to present the draft to the top leaders of the Union Peacemaking Central Committee and seek their approval.
“We will inform on agreed points soonest. If we have made agreed points in advance, we will call for the top leaders’ conference as soon as possible. In doing so, the topics will be much less and concluded faster. Let’s try that.”
