The Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) final draft drawn up between the government’s Union-level Peace Work Committee (UPWC) and the ethnic Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT) was signed at the Myanmar Peace Centre in Rangoon on 31 March.
Though the final draft of the NCA has been fully accepted by the government side the NCCT will need to present the draft to an ethnic armed organisations’ (EAO) leaders’ summit for approval, according to NCCT leaders.
The NCCT leader Nai Hongsa said: “Their [the government] side will submit it [the NCA final draft] to their upper levels and so will we. If one side breaks the agreement that we have signed peace will be gone. There is the prospect that this final draft may be amended at the [EAO leaders’] summit, but we cannot say what points would be amended.”
He added that as well as inviting the leaders of the 12 member groups of the NCCT to the leaders’ summit they would also invite the leaders of the 10 EAOs who are not NCCT members, so that they can attempt to get the NCA to be signed by all EAOs.
But, government minister and vice chairman of the UPWC U Aung Min wants the 12 members of the NCCT to sign the NCA earlier because they were involved in all the NCA talks. At the same time he also wants four more groups, who are not NCCT members, to sign the NCA. Those four groups are: the All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF), the Naga Socialist Council of Nagaland- Kaplang group (NSCN-K), the National Democratic Alliance Army or Mongla group (NDAA) and the Restoration Council of Shan State / Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA).
He said: “Our side has accepted all these 16 groups and I hope the other side will also accept them. If we all [agree to only] accept these groups we just need to choose a signing date. If they want to increase the number of groups we will have to enter discussions again and it [the NCA] will not be signed on time during this government’s term.”
The final draft of the NCA was signed for the UPWC by U Aung Min and five other representatives (U Thein Zaw, Lt. Gen Myint Soe, Lt. Gen Thet Naing Win and U Khet Htein Nan), while Nai Hongsa and five representatives of EAOs (Phado Kwel Htoo Win, Brig. Gen. Gun Maw, Dr. Slai Hlan Hmone Sakhong, Col. Khun Okkar) signed for the NCCT.
In the next meeting they will discuss unresolved issues in the final draft of the NCA to try and reach an agreement.
The final draft of the NCA consists of seven chapters, 33 sections and 86 points.
The final draft of the NCA will be proposed to both sides’ leaders and if all the leaders all agree it will be signed and then political dialogue will start.
Translated by Aung Myat Soe English version written by Mark Inkey for BNI
