The 3 day conference that ended last week was hosted by multi-group umbrella organization UNFC. The UNFC is made up of eleven ethnic armed groups. The conference was one of the largest showcases of Myanmar's diverse political make-up to date. The council hosted a similar one last February but a number of groups failed to send delegations.

During the conference a major point of solidarity among attendees was the decision to continue rejecting the country's 2008 constitution and replacing it with one that allows for federalism. There were also discussions about the formation process of a unified federal army and to push Nyapyidaw to follow through on its end of peace talks. Many say the military-centered government has continually violated ceasefires with ongoing acts of violence and a general failure in adhering to signed agreements.

"The ethnic groups are willing to collaborate on behalf of the government's accedence to host country-wide peace talks, but only if a few rules are agreed upon," said Okkar in the statement that followed the conference's close. "The first is a guarantee that all national military activity will be suspended. The second is a solid guarantee the peace dialogues will actually happen."

Without the government's agreement to these conditions being met the ethnic armed groups will not participate in the national ceasefire process, Okkar said.

Although President U Thein Sein has praised a consolidated structure for national peace dialogues, the government seems to be approaching parties individually. It’s a move that some say intends to disrupt the cohesiveness of organizations like the UNFC.

UNFC spokesperson Pado David Tarkapaw criticized chief government peace Minister Aung Min for singling out groups instead of addressing the opposition as a unified entity at the Friday press conference, Mizzima reported. "We have advised him before to organize a nationwide ceasefire in the country but he is still meeting each organization separately."

"The main objective for assemblies like this is to give ethnic groups a single voice during negotiations. In order to do this, we need support from both UNFC and non-UNFC members," Okkar told Phophtaw News Association during a phone interview following Friday's press conference.

Although the government hasn’t issued a formal response regarding last week's gathering, Okkar said Nyapyidaw has already agreed to meet with a representative delegation in Chiang Mai as early as the end of August to further discuss the prospects of a nationwide ceasefire.

"We plan on expanding our delegation to include non-UNFC members - if the meeting actually happens."