Peace talks to address attack on Kachin academy
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Kachin peace talks will revolve around two main factors: the army's artillery attack on a Kachin Independence Army (KIA) academy and contentious points in the ceasefire deal, said Naing Han Tha, the leader of the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NC
The government’s Union Peacemaking Work Committee (UPWC) and the NCCT organised the 2-day peace negotiations which will be concluded today. Peace talks in September ended in disagreement. The talks remained deadlocked because of the army’s attack on the KIA’s cadet training school in Laiza on November 19, which reportedly killed 22 soldiers.
Naing Han Tha said: “We have two main factors. One is the army firing on the military training school and another is the pending points obstructing the nationwide ceasefire deal. Just saying that Aung Min of the UPWC felt sorry for the deaths of the KIA cadets is not enough to reach an agreement. We must seek ways to prevent similar incidents. We must continue to negotiate over obstacles in the ceasefire deal.
“The government and the armed ethnic organisations must try to negotiate a mutually agreeable solution in an effort to push the peace process forward. For this, both sides need to approach the ceasefire deal reasonably. The political dialogue must go ahead.
“Political thinking ensured the delay in signing the ceasefire deal. We formerly emphasised only the ceasefire, but did not continue the political dialogue. We need to move forward with the political dialogue. If we find a political solution, we can hope for national consolidation. If we don’t create a political deal that is acceptable to all the people, the ceasefire will be meaningless,” Naing Han Tha added.
Representatives of the government, the parliament and the Tatmadaw (Armed Forces) will attend the negotiation.
“The delegation, led by Phado Saw Kwe Htoo Win, the second leader-1 of the NCCT, will attend the talks, but leader Naing Han Tha and Maj-Gen Gwan Maw, the second leader-2 of the NCCT, will not,” said Colonel Khun Okkar, a member of the NCCT.
“As far as I know, Minister Aung Min, Thein Zaw and General Thet Naing Win will attend the negotiation on behalf of the government. Both sides agreed to hold the negotiation for two days,” Hla Maung Shwe of Myanmar Peace Centre said.
“Both of the technical teams prepared and gathered points for negotiation. Both sides put forward 16 points for negotiation, ten of which have been agreed upon in principle,” Hla Maung Shwe said.
“According to the negotiations between the technical teams of the UPWC and the NCCT, the agreed-upon points will have to be further discussed and approved at the official peace negotiation talks,” Naing Han Tha said.
“The nationwide ceasefire negotiation cannot proceed given the current political and military situation. The agreed-upon points in the ceasefire draft were withdrawn at the sixth peace talk, held in September, undermining the ceasefire process. Only when the political dialogue is pushed can the ceasefire appear,” NCCT leaders said.
