The political arm of the Shan State Army (SSA) South, the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), is keen to hold talks with the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) to resolve all political problems in the country by peaceful means, provided Thailand helps them, according to Sai Hseng Merng, Deputy spokesperson of the group.
 
“We are happy to come to the negotiating table, if both Bangkok and the SPDC have really reached an agreement,” he said.
 
The Nation reported on March 23 that Burma had urged Thailand to help facilitate talks with ethnic resistance movements to join the seven-step roadmap toward national reconciliation, when Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, paid a two day visit to Burma, on March 22-23. 
 
"(Burma's) Prime Minister Thein Sein and Foreign Minister Nyan Win have asked me to talk to the minorities and we are pleased to help," Piromya was quoted by The Nation as saying.
 
SSA always welcomed talks to resolve political problems, Sai Hseng Merng maintained, but the main causes of the problems must be solved initially, which means there is a need to look into history.
 
“The political problem between Shan State and the Burmese military junta was due to the SPDC’s violations of the Panglong Agreement. Moreover, they sent their forces and seized our land,” he said.
 
“SPDC always talks about holding talks with ethnic groups, but their actions have never matched their speeches,” he added.
 
The junta and the SSA had agreed to hold talks on May 23, 2007, but the talks could not be held, when the Burmese Army delegation failed to appear at the venue.
 
“It showed that the SPDC was not honest and did not really want to talk to us,” Sai Hseng Merng added.
 
The SSA, according to him, would also consider contesting in the proposed elections, if the junta followed a democratic process and if it agreed to the following demands:
 
·        To free all political prisoners and grant amnesty to all dissidents both inside and outside the country and allow them to form political parties, to contest in the elections
 
·        To amend the "Nargis Constitution" together with the National League for Democracy (NLD) and other ethnic parties.