The New Mon State Party (NMSP) and the Lahu Democratic Union (LDU) will sign the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) on February 13, according to the LDU’s vice-chair Col. Solomon.
Col Solomon said the two ethnic armed organizations will sign both the eight-point proposal that has been negotiated with the government’s Peace Commission (PC) and the NCA on the same day.
“We won’t sign the deed of commitment anymore. We will sign the DPN (Delegation for Political Negotiation)’s eight-point [proposal] and the NCA. These eight points have been negotiated between the DPN and the PC. We have reached the eighth agreement on the eight points. We will sign it and then the NCA. We won’t sign the deed of commitment anymore. We will sign the final agreement. There are two parts. We will sign the eight points and the NCA. We will sign them on the same day,” he said.
The NMSP and the LDU had originally agreed to sign the eight-point proposal for the NCA first and sign the NCA during the third session of the Union Peace Conference, also known as the 21st Century Panglong Conference.
“At first, we planned to sign the deed of commitment or the NCA’s eight points first on the 27th, 28th, or the 29th and sign [the NCA] during the real conference. But, the situation has changed now. It’s better to sign [the NCA] once and for all,” Col Solomon continued.
U Kyaw Tint Swe, the Union Minister for Office of the State Counsellor and vice-chair of the National Reconciliation and Peace Center (Central), told a meeting yesterday (February 5) that the NCA signing ceremony will be held at MICC-II in Naypyidaw on February 13.
“We have already replied to them that February 13 is a suitable day. We can sign it on the next day after the Union Day. The official letter will be sent within a day or two,” said Col Solomon.
The United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) will hold a meeting in Chiang Mai, Thailand on February 10-14 concerning the issue of two out of four member organizations, the NMSP and the LDU, signing the NCA with the government.
“We are also considering this issue. We might submit a letter about not being able to attend it. I will meet with the UNFC leaders on the 9th. We will respond to them via a letter. All of us won’t be able to attend it,” he added.
The LDU’s chair Kyar Khun Sar will lead a 15-member delegation to attend the NCA signing ceremony on February 13. Over 15 people from the NMSP will also attend the signing ceremony and the list of delegates will be sent tomorrow.
This event will be the first NCA signing ceremony held during term of the government led by the National League for Democracy (NLD).
