Reacting to the Burmese military junta’s oft repeated statement that it has waited more than 20 years for the ceasefire groups to change, the non-ceasefire Shan State Army (SSA) South leader Col Yawdserk has said it was “not for fun” that the latter had concluded truce with the regime.

“To my knowledge, they had wanted to discuss and resolve the political problems existing between successive Burmese governments and the non-Burman ethnic nationalities,” he said.

Junta leaders had in the past always evaded attempts by former rebels’ to talk politics by telling them to wait for the future elected government, according to him. “And when the floor was given to them during the so called National Convention (1993-2007) and they presented their proposals for a future Burma, where each state would enjoy self rule, the junta refused to consider them. The constitution drafted by it was unilaterally ratified and these groups were told to change themselves into militias. It is natural they cannot accept it.”

One Wa official’s reply was not much different from Yawdserk’s. “As long as they are not ready to discuss our political propositions, they shouldn’t consider 20 years as too long,” he said. “They should resign themselves to wait for another 100 years, if need be.”

The ceasefire groups’ call revolves around one central theme: “Full autonomy in internal administration” as agreed at the Panglong Conference on 12 February 1947 regarded as the day when the basic foundation for the Union of Burma was laid.

It was the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), which challenged the ruling junta to discuss the Panglong Agreement last month, after bilateral talks on how to accommodate Naypyitaw’s Border Guard Force (BGF) demand, without curtailing its room for maneuver ended in failure. According to some news agencies, the regime has accepted the challenge. However, to date, there is no information on when and where the discussion will take place.