Loi Taileng- A new venue to air issues facing Shan State, the biggest ethnic state in the Union of Burma, and its people, provisionally named Shan State Congress, was chosen after a lively three-day debate yesterday.

Yawdserk (51)  leader of the Shan State Army (SSA) South and host to the gathering of 49 delegates and 112 supporters and observers, skillfully steered the meeting that was divided between two sides to reach a middle ground agreement:

    * By naming the gathering by majority vote Shan State Congress, he quietened his own members who were pushing for it.

    * By guaranteeing that the name would be provisional until a constitution is drafted and approved by all parties some time in the coming year, he also alleviated the fears of the non-Shan group's delegates that the SSA South would hasten the process without their consent

The meeting also agreed to set up a seven-person committee

* To draft the constitution ("It doesn't need to be long," said Sao Ood Kehsi, Chief of RCSS's Alliance Affairs Department. "The pre-independence constitution of the United States was only 5 pages.")

    * To bring around other groups in Shan State and
    * To convene the next meeting

Hkun Hsoito, SHAN, Ta Ai Nyunt, Hkun Thurein, Kya Bo Long, Lahu villager and Shan villager

The committee, its members to be named later, would be headed by the following groups:

    * Lahu Democratic Union (LDU)                                         1 member

    * PaO National Liberation Organization(PNLO)                       1 member

    * Restoration Council of Shan State (SSA's political arm)          3 members

    * Tai Coordination Committee(TCC)                                    1 member

    * Wa National Organization(WNO)                                      1 member

"We should work together on common issues," said Yawdserk in his invitation, "and work separately on different ones. We should also meet at least once a year to discuss issues affecting us."

The groups were represented by the following persons:

    * LDU                Kya Bo Long, Kya Gu

    * PNLO              Hkun Thurein, Hkun Hsoi Hto

    * TCC                Perng Fa, Hseng Noung

    * WNO              Ta Ai Nyunt

Other groups the Shan State Congress (SSC) has proposed to win over includes Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), Shan State Army (SSA) North, United Wa State Party (UWSP) and PaO National Organization (PNO), among others.