The Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) expects to hold an official dialogue with the government before the third session of the 21st Century Panglong Conference is convened.
The KNPP’s vice-chair Khu Oo Reh said it has requested to hold the official dialogue with the government in the Kayah (Karenni) State’s capital Loikaw.
“We have proposed to hold the official meeting not in Yangon but in the Kayah State’s capital Loikaw,” he said.
He explained that the KNPP proposed to meet in Loikaw to make cooperation run smoothly with the local authorities in carrying out the agreements.
“Government officials and Tatmadaw leaders from the union-level and state-level will participate and discuss and listen [to the dialogue]. If we are able to reach an agreement and we arrive at the stage of implementation, we will automatically know who will take responsibility and accountability and cooperate [with us]. That’s why we have proposed to hold the dialogue in Loikaw,” he said.
According to Khu Oo Reh, the KNPP made the proposal during an informal meeting held between the KNPP and the government’s Peace Commission at the National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC) in Yangon on March 7.
In the statement released after yesterday’s informal meeting, the KNPP stated that it discussed the issue on holding political dialogues and points related to the military issues that need to undergo further negotiations from the eight-point proposal submitted by the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) in order to take part in the peace implementation process after signing the nationwide ceasefire agreement.
The KNPP also discussed the joint monitoring committee issue, which has been agreed by both parties in the state-level and union level agreements, the issue on re-appointing liaison officers by the state-level and union-level government, military issue, and the issue on continuing the negotiation and implementation of the state-level development issues, according to the statement.
However, the KNPP said the representatives of both parties have agreed to negotiate the date and time for the official dialogue.
“It will be held at a convenient time for both sides. The government needs submitting to their superiors. We need to wait and listen to this. We also need to submit a report on this informal meeting. So, we have agreed to negotiate the time,” said Khu Oo Reh.
The KNPP is an ethnic armed organization that has been established in 1957. It signed a ceasefire with the government in 1995 but it broke down after three months.
It discussed ceasefire with the government’s peace delegation in November 2011 and signed the preliminary ceasefire in Loikaw in March 2012.
