The signatory groups to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) will convene a meeting in Chiang Mai, Thailand on October 10th. The purpose of this meeting is to help resume the peace process, which has been on hold for the last year and a half.

“We will discuss the proposals received from the representative of the government. We are expecting to hear updated views of the government from our leaders who took the field-trip abroad along with the government representatives from the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee – UPDJC secretary group, too. We are going to have a meeting from October 10th to 12th,” said Nai Aung Mangay, a spokesperson for the New Mon State Party (NMSP) and a member of Peace Process Steering Team (PPST).

The government’s proposals include; the date to celebrate the 4th anniversary of the NCA, and a desire to resume the 21st-Century Panglong Union Peace Conference, as well as call for a Joint Implementation Coordination Meeting (JICM) to implement the NCA.

“It is such an important meeting as the agenda will focus on examining whether there are any obstructions in the peace process to move forward and deciding whether or not to resume the Union Peace Conference – UPC,” Nai Aung Mangay added.

Since the NCA was signed four year ago, dialogue to advance the peace process has been challenging. Naw Si Poe Ra Sein, a former Vice-President and General Secretary of the Karen National Union (KNU), told the Mon News Agency, “No matter how much effort the ethnic people have been putting into the peace process or signing NCA, or to whatever extent the government wants to implement the process, the peace is not achievable as long as the Tamataw [won’t] change [their] perspective.”

Naw Si Poe Ra Sein added his belief that the nation’s peace process will continue to be delayed if the Tatmadaw remains unwilling to amend the 2008 Constitution and is unwilling to negotiate their “six-principles for peace” laid down by Senior General U Min Aung Hlaing, the military commander-in-chief in 2011.

The Tatmadaw (Burma Military) adopted “six principles” to serve as its guideline and position towards the ceasefire process. The six principles are;

    (1) To have a keen desire to reach eternal peace;

    (2) to keep promises agreed to in peace deals;

    (3) to avoid capitalizing on the peace agreement;

    (4) to avoid placing a heavy burden on local people;

    (5) to strictly abide by the existing laws;

    (6) to “march” towards a democratic country in accordance to the 2008 constitution

( Source: Institute for Security and Development Policy. 2015. “Myanmar’s Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement”. )

The six principles are seen as a warning to ethnic armed forces not to seek “loopholes” in a ceasefire agreement, as well as an attempt to stop the collection of taxes and customs duties in the border areas they control.

According to Naw Si Poe Ra Seign, the NCA process is lagging because the Tatmadaw has no willingness for genuine peace. Rather than achieving peace, he argues, the Tatmadaw is using the NCA as a tool to become more influential in the ethnic areas.

During the high-level meeting held on the 3rd anniversary of NCA signing held at Shwe San Eain Hotel in Naw Pyi Taw on October 15th -16th in 2018, participants including representatives of the Chief of Defense, government leaders led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and ten ethnic armed group leaders released a statement regarding their collective desire for a continuation of the peace process and its implementation.

However the peace process become stagnant when both the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) suspended their participation from official meetings. The KNU has however, continued to participate in informal meetings in an attempt to resolve the stalled process.