Khitar Non – Officials from the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC) engaged in negotiations with ethnic armed group leaders last Sunday in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, in a round of peace talks between the Union Peace-Working Making Committee (UPWC) and the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT).
“We request to have another [peace] talk around the end of July, in order to be able to sign a nationwide ceasefire”, said U Hla Maung Shwer, special advisor to MPC, in an interview with IMNA.
UPWC has reportedly offered to host a third peace talk to negotiate a ‘Single Text Draft’ on June 29-30th, but the NCCT has declined to attend.
“Although [the UPWC] has offered to hold another talk at the end of June, NCCT has not made the decision [to join] yet; we replied to [UPWC] that we won’t be [attending the] meeting”, said Nai Hongsar, leader of NCCT.
Nai Hongsar continued that NCCT leaders must first meet to discuss joining the UPWC talks, and that the NCCT will propose a day for holding another talk with UPWC, only after its United Nationalities Federation Council (UNFC) has its summit conference.
Nai Hongsar, who is also the general secretary for the UNFC, notes that if there were to be another talk between UPWC and NCCT before the UNFC summit conference, it would be an informal talk.
U Hla Maung Shwe said that both sides could accomplish the points they had agreed upon only after signing a nationwide ceasefire agreement, thus both sides should negotiate the points upon which they have not yet agreed.
“When we have nationwide ceasefire talks and political dialogue, we should [also] include the Tatmadaw (the Burmese Army), political parties, ethnic group leaders, and members of society organizations. [Only then] will we reach the goal of the political situation we are walking to”, said U Hla Maung Shwe.
Some UPWC government representatives have said that a nationwide ceasefire agreement could be signed by August 1st.
