Minister hopes to sign national ceasefire soon
Some of the remaining controversial points in a nationwide ceasefire accord have been addressed, says Union minister Aung Min, who leads the government's Union Peacemaking Work Committee (UPWC).
Aung Min was speaking to the media while attending the Myanmar Public Forum in Yangon on Friday. He said the information was based on discussions between the technical teams from the UPWC and Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team formed with representatives from ethnic armed groups.
According to the minister, only eight major topics were left for discussion in the ceasefire draft and instructions had come from President Thein Sein regarding those topics.
“I don’t want to go into details now about the eight points. When our teams held discussions, we agreed on about five points. We still have to discuss the remaining three points,” said Aung Min.
“We will discuss them in upcoming talks. If talks go smoothly with all those eight points, the date can be set to sign the [ceasefire] deal. But I don’t want to say the exact date. I want to say we are trying our best to sign it.”
The remaining points include security affairs, selection of groups in political talks, plans for the survival of ethnic organisations during political talks after signing a ceasefire and the formation of joint leading committees for Union-level peace talks.
The next round of talks is expected on December 18.
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