Govt sets Feb. 28 for start of next peace conference
Govt sets Feb. 28 for start of next peace conference
FRONTIER MYANMAR, 06 Feb 2017
URL: http://frontiermyanmar.net/en/govt-sets-feb-28-for-start-of-next-peace-conference
NAY PYI TAW — the second 21st Century Panglong Conference will be held in Nay Pyi Taw on February 28, the government has confirmed, after a meeting of the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee in the capital on Monday.
But it is not yet clear whether or not non-signatories of the so-called Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, signed between the previous government and eight non-state armed groups in October 2015, will be invited to attend.
“We cannot say for sure if the non-signatory ethnic armed groups such as the KIA [Kachin Independence Army] will attend or not at this moment,” said U Zaw Htay, director general of the President’s Office. “We will make preparations over the coming days and will negotiate with non-signatories.”
The first peace conference under the National League for Democracy government, and the second since the NCA was signed, was held in Nay Pyi Taw in late August. Three groups in active fighting with the government – the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Arakan Army – did not attend after the military demanded they commit to unilateral disarmament.
Last year, fighting spiked between the Tatmadaw and the KIA in the north of the country, and in November an alliance of ethnic armed groups calling itself the Northern Alliance – comprising troops from the KIA, TNLA, MNDAA and AA – launched a fresh offensive near Muse.
U Khun Myint Htun, chairman of NCA signatory the Pa-O National Liberation Organisation and who attended the UPDJC meeting, said about 700 attendants, the same as in August, would attend this month’s conference and that negotiations are being made with non-signatories to determine if they will be allowed to attend as official delegates.
But it is not yet clear whether or not non-signatories of the so-called Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, signed between the previous government and eight non-state armed groups in October 2015, will be invited to attend.
“We cannot say for sure if the non-signatory ethnic armed groups such as the KIA [Kachin Independence Army] will attend or not at this moment,” said U Zaw Htay, director general of the President’s Office. “We will make preparations over the coming days and will negotiate with non-signatories.”
The first peace conference under the National League for Democracy government, and the second since the NCA was signed, was held in Nay Pyi Taw in late August. Three groups in active fighting with the government – the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Arakan Army – did not attend after the military demanded they commit to unilateral disarmament.
Last year, fighting spiked between the Tatmadaw and the KIA in the north of the country, and in November an alliance of ethnic armed groups calling itself the Northern Alliance – comprising troops from the KIA, TNLA, MNDAA and AA – launched a fresh offensive near Muse.
U Khun Myint Htun, chairman of NCA signatory the Pa-O National Liberation Organisation and who attended the UPDJC meeting, said about 700 attendants, the same as in August, would attend this month’s conference and that negotiations are being made with non-signatories to determine if they will be allowed to attend as official delegates.