Leaders of the eight signatories of the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) have decided to hold the third session of the Union Peace Conference – 21st Century Panglong only after the national-level political dialogues and public consultations have been held.
The decision was made during the emergency meeting of the eight EAOs’ Peace Process Steering Team (PPST), which was held on January 11-12.
“We will continue to work on holding the Union [Peace] Conference, but we can only hold it after we hold the dialogues and accomplish the tasks. The national-level political dialogue can’t be held in the Shan State. The public consultation can’t be held in the Rakhine State. We will face difficulties in carrying out [our tasks] if we can’t hold them. We can only hold [the Union Peace Conference] after carrying out the tasks,” said P’doh Saw Kwel Htoo Win, vice-chair of the KNU and spokesperson of the eight EAOs.
The eight EAOS issued a statement with four-point agreement including the decision to hold the 21st Century Panglong Conference only after implementing the procedures for political dialogue.
The leaders of the eight EAOs said the national-level political dialogues and the public consultations are held as part of the NCA implementation procedures, but the Tatmadaw’s obstruction against the public consultations led by the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army – South (RCSS/SSA-S), the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), and the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF) harms trust in the peace process.
“In our opinion, the Tatmadaw is trying to ruin this peace. We need to meet with the public in doing politics because we are doing it for the public. We will only know the public’s desire when we can meet with the public. So, it’s difficult for us to discuss peace without obtaining the public desire,” said Lt-Col Sai Mein, spokesperson of the RCSS/SSA-S.
The national-level political dialogue for the Shan people has been temporarily postponed in Langhko due to the Tatmadaw’s obstructions against the public consultations held by the RCSS/SSA-S in some townships from December 17 to 25.
The Bago Region Minister of Security and Border Affairs and local authorities also obstructed the pre-21st Century Panglong public consultation held by the ABSDF in Bago on January 12.
During the emergency meeting, the EAOs’ leaders have decided to meet with the responsible persons
