Loi Taileng — 19 May 2012 was the last time the Shan State Army (SSA) South, officially the Restoration Council of Shan State /Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) and Naypyitaw’s Union Peacemaking Work Committee (UPWC) met in Kengtung to sign a 12 point union level agreement.
All in all, the two sides have signed 3 agreements since 2 December 2011, totaling 31 points:
- 2 December 2011 8
- 16 January 2012 11
- 19 May 2012 12
They could be further condensed into 18 points, as many of them are either repeating themselves or overlapping:
- Cessation of hostilities
- Political dialogue
- Special development / industrial zone
- Cooperation against drugs
- Troops to remain in mutually agreed areas
- Prior notice before movement with arms
- RCSS/SSA to set up liaison offices in Naypyitaw controlled towns
- Prior agreement with the Burma Army for the designation of cross border points
- Government assistance for setting up business firms and freedom to engage in agriculture, animal husbandry, industry and trade
- Cooperation in regional development
- Government assistance for presentation and promotion of language and culture
- Agreement for both domestic and international assistance agencies to work with RCSS/SSA
- RCSS/SSA to set up its own media organization
- Release of members of RCSS/SSA imprisoned by the government (with the exception of those convicted under criminal offenses)
- To set up a joint peace monitoring committee/commission (in July 2012)
- To remove the RCSS/SSA from the unlawful association list when trust has been established
- Freedom to consult with parties, organizations and the public
- To issue national ID cards for RCSS/SSA members and dependents
“So far only two of them have been successfully implemented,” said Lt-Gen Yawdserk, leader of the RCSS/SSA. “Some like setting up business firms are still in the process of implementation. But most of the rest, particularly the cessation of hostilities/ceasefire, has been the least observed.”
Some 80 clashes have taken place since the signing in December 2011 due to the fact that the Burma Army, in most cases, has failed to notify the SSA of its planned movements, according to an SSA senior commander.
The only two silver linings in the cloud, the RCSS/SSA says, are:
- Setting up of liaison offices
- Freedom to consult with political parties, civil society organizations and the general public
“Without them, there is no way we can keep our members in line,” said the same officer. “With the two items in place, they hope a political settlement can be achieved.”
The group also signed a 9 point tripartite agreement (between Naypyitaw, RCSS/SSA and UNODC) for cooperation in implementing a crop substitution project in southern Shan State on 28 October 2012. So far, the agreement remains in limbo because the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) is still waiting for the green light from the military-dominated National Defense and security Council, better known as “Ka-long” in Burmese, according to an RCSS/SSA official.
The movement, since the beginning of May, has dispatched a delegation headed by Brig-Gen Pawng Kherh to hold public consultations on the political dialogue with the government planned for next year.
