UWSA and NDAA to sign nationwide ceasefire deal

President Thein Sein met representatives of the UWSA, NDAA and the Shan State Progressive Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA) in Nay Pyi Taw on August 25. Similarly, Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing met SSPP/SSA representatives on the morning of August 25 and the UWSA and the NDAA in the evening of the same day.

“Both of the ethic armed groups will sign the nationwide ceasefire deal. They will not secede from the Union,” a senior officer of Myanmar Peace Centre said.

The UWSA and the NDAA are not members of the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), which represents armed ethnic groups. Both, however, attended an Aprip meeting of the Union Peacemaking Work Committee and the NCCT as observers. 

The two groups previously said that they do not need to hold more talks with the government because they already had ceasefire agreements with Nay Pyi Taw. 

The NCCT invited both groups to attend a summit of armed ethnic groups in Laiza, Kachin State in July, but they did not join the meeting. 

In another development, the speakers of both houses of Parliament held separate meetings yesterday morning with leaders of armed ethnic groups, during which they said that Parliament was also a channel for ensuring peace, national unity and the rule of law.

Lower House Speaker Thura Shwe Mann and Upper House Speaker Khin Aung Myint each met with leaders of the Wa, Mongla and Shan armies.

Thura Shwe Mann met with Kyauk Kaw Ann, a member of the central committee from Wa Special Region-2, Mongla Special Region-4 vice chairman San Pe, and Sao Khay Taing chairman of the Shan State Progressive Party/Shan State Army at the Parliament building.

Thura Shwe Mann said he told them that Parliament was not restricted to passing legislation, but also a venue for strengthening the internal peace process through national unity, national reconciliation and the rule of law.

He said that the Union Peacemaking Work Committee led by the President Thein Sein had been formed to achieve internal peace and that Parliament supported those pursuing peace and that it would do what it could to assist them.

Thura Shwe Mann also stressed that a nationwide ceasefire agreement was necessary for achieving real peace. Without a ceasefire, lives and property would continue to be lost in ethnic areas where conflict continues.

The leaders of the armed ethnic groups met with Upper House Speaker Khin Aung Myint separately. This was followed by talks among them about cooperation in the peace process among ethnic groups and regional development.