Only 12 EAOs have been invited to take part in the conference, which will be held at the headquarters of the United Wa State Army (UWSA) in Pasang Township, Eastern Shan State from 1 to 3 May.

The Arakan Army is the only armed organisation from Arakan State to be invited to take part in the conference.

When U Aung Myint, the secretary of the UWSA headquarters office and UWSA spokesperson was asked why the ALP and ANC were not invited he said: “When we started [organising this conference] we decided not to invite all ethnic armed organisations. We made that decision at the end of February and our leaders have said they will only [hold the conference if we] comply with that decision.”

When Narinjara News put it to U Aung Myint that the conference would not really be an ethnic armed organisations’ conference without the participation of ethnic armed groups such as the ALP and the Chin National Front (CNF), he replied: “You cannot put it like that.”

Khaing Ye Lin the office chief of the ALP in Kyauktaw Township, Arakan State said: “We cannot say why they did not invite us. We know that we were not invited due to decisions made in Laiza (Kachin headquarters) and Lawkhilar (Karen headquarters), but we do not know what decisions were made.”

Regarding the ethnic armed organisations’ conference he said: “We are not worried that we have not been invited because I do not think that the conference will come up with anything that can be implemented in reality. I think that if it does not include all ethnic armed groups they cannot discuss any points related to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA).”

The ethnic armed groups who have been invited to the Pasang conference are: the Restoration Council of Shan State /Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA), the Kachin Independence Organization/Army (KIO/KIA), the Karen National Union (KNU), the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), the Paoh National Liberation Organization (PNLO), the New Mon State Party (NMSP), the United Wa State Army (UWSA), the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the Arakan Army (AA), the Shan State Progressive Party / Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA), the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA or Kokang group), and the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA or Mongla group).

Groups not invited to the conference include: the ALP/ALA, the ANC, the CNF, the Democratic Karen Benevolence Army (DKBA), the Karen National Union/ Karen National Liberation Army-Peace Council (KNU/KNLA-PC), the Lahu Democratic Union (LDU), and the Wa National Organisation (WNO).

Translated by Aung Myat Soe English version written by Mark Inkey for BNI