President to discuss ceasefire with five ethnic armed group leaders

The delegation includes Karen National Union (KNU) chairman Gen Mutu Say Poe, Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) vice-chairman Lt-Gen N’Ban La, Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) chairman Abel Tweed, New Mon State Party (NMSP) chairman Nai Htaw Mon, and Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) patron Maj-Gen Say Htin. The group arrived in Yangon on September 6 and left for their Nay Pyi Taw trip on September 7.

The delegation will fly to Nay Pyi Taw on the morning of September 8 for an off-the-record discussion with a government delegation led by Union Minister Aung Min, vice-chairperson of Union Peacemaking Working Committee (UPWC), in the afternoon.

“The meeting with the president is on the morning of September 9. We haven’t received a confirmation of whether we will meet the Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services on September 10. We proposed to meet the president and the commander-in-chief. But now, it seems that we will meet the president separately. The commander-in-chief is not [in the country], and we are not sure whether he will come back or not, even though we had plans to meet before,” said KNU general secretary Pado Saw Kwal Htoo Win on September 7.

Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing left for a goodwill visit to Israel on September 5. 

At their meeting the president at the ethnic armed group leaders will discuss which groups will be invited to sign the NCA and when the NCA is to be signed. Some leaders have vowed not to sign the agreement if all 21 groups are not included.