I learned a lot yesterday when I was invited to talk about the Pyidaungsu Institute (PI) for Peace and Dialogue that I had helped set up 11- months ago. I also have the honor of becoming its managing director, because nobody else wanted it.

The politicians that represented 12 political parties that had been visiting Thailand since last week had already met the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC), Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT) and the Women’s League of Burma (WLB), among others, to talk about the ongoing peace process. But after I had introduced PI and its humble role in it, questions began to roll:

• We’ve been waiting to participate in the process. But why have the negotiations for the Nationwide Ceasefire taken so long? We’ve asked the same question to those concerned, but so far have received responses   which are highly unsatisfactory.
• What are the main problems facing the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) drafting?  
• What steps are the NCCT and the Union Peacemaking Work Committee (UPWC) taking to deal with the problems facing them?

I believe I did my best to clear up things for them in my pidgin Burmese. My impression was that most of them were reasonably happy about it.

As I was talking, one thing became very clear: Negotiations need to “balance between confidentiality and transparency.”

Without confidentiality, negotiations won’t work. But without transparency, they may cause unwanted problems as well as losing the confidence from the people whose support is crucial to the success of the negotiations.

Knowledge maybe power but it is also responsibility. Because one not only wants success but also a timely one too.

I therefore hope this clumsy and inarticulate suggestion from me will be seriously considered by all those who are working for peace in our land in our time.