According to UNFC Joint Secretary Khun Okker, a technical team from the Myanmar Peace Centre (MPC) wants to build on previous discussions with the UNFC and other Myanmar organizations.

“This seminar will not affect the ethnic conference to be held in Hpa-an, Karen state… some of the invited organizations are not directly concerned with a nationwide ceasefire, (but) they are encouraged to exchange their opinions on the issue. They will play an important role once the nationwide ceasefire has been signed."

Possible attendees may include the Women’s’ League of Burma, the Restoration Council of Shan State and the Working Group for Ethnic Coordination.

The MPC team says the meeting that planned for Nov. 22 would bring ethnic armed groups and political organizations together for discussions.

For the most part, the UNFC has welcomed the proposal, noting the opportunities it presents for exchange of opinions with leaders from a variety of parties and organizations. But responses by others has been mixed, with some ethnic politicians seeing it as a constructive step and others worried the government will use it to disrupt solidarity among the ethnic groups following the success of the recent conference in Laiza attended by most of the prominent ethnic armed groups.

At the time of press the MPC had yet to list the points to be discussed at the proposed meeting. MPC Spokesperson U Nyo Ohn Myint explained that more time is needed to finalize these details, but they will involve the nationwide ceasefire scheme, framing of political policies and implementing multi-party political dialogues.