U Aung Min, Minister for President’s Office and Vice Chairman #3 for the Union Peacemaking Work Committee (UPWC), will be meeting representatives from Shan and PaO resistance movements, according to Sao Yawdserk, leader of the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA).
Brig Gen Pawng Kherh, the RCSS/SSA chief negotiator, will be leading a 5 men delegation to meet him.
Though he has yet to disclose the details of his message for the minister, recent clashes in northern, southern and eastern Shan State have been on his mind for the past few days, according to his close aides.
The heaviest was the 4 hour fight in Mong Lang, Mong Keung township, last Tuesday, when a Burma Army captain was among the fatal casualties.
“If we are going to sign a nationwide ceasefire accord,” he told Gen Mutu Saypoe, President of the Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army (KNU/KNLA) on Wednesday, 18 September, “the foremost requirement is the full guarantee that no attack should be launched against the resistance under any pretext.”
A senior security official in Thailand that has been playing host to visiting Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Commander in Chief of the Burmese military since Monday, 16 September, also expressed concern over the likelihood of resumption of war along its borders with Burma to SHAN:
“First, there is still fighting despite the ceasefire,” he said. “Secondly, the Burma Army, instead of withdrawing its forces facing the resistance, is steadily building up. Thirdly, their top officers meeting us, have yet to mention about the current ceasefire and peace talks efforts. Some have even gone further to call for our cooperation in subduing the ethnic armed resistance.”
U Aung Min announced last month that a nationwide ceasefire accord signing has been planned for late October, which will be immediately followed by negotiations for a framework for political dialogue and later the political dialogue itself.
However, there are also positive developments, according to a meeting of experts in Bangkok, 16-17 September:
- Regular and adhoc meetings between the resistance technical teams and the government’s Myanmar Peace Center (MPC)
- Establishments of liaison offices at the Burma Army’s regional headquarters (“though they are rarely put to good use by the Army”, said Yawdserk)
- Freedom of consultations among armed groups, with political parties and the people
- Civil society organizations playing increasingly prominent role in the peace process
- The government and legislature created by the military that had for more than 60 years opposed federalism speaking publicly in favor of it
- Recent formation of a Constitutional Review Committee to suggest amendments for the military-drawn 2008 constitution
