nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA); however, both sides couldn’t agree on the NCA draft.
“Yes, the meeting is finished. As the government side has points to ask their leaders, we also have points to submit to our leaders. Of the 13 points, 10 points were okay but we cannot resolve the 3 remaining points,” said Nai Hong Sar, a member of Senior Delegation (SD).
The talk was held at the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC), in Rangoon, from July 22 to 24. At the talk, in attendance were 15 members of the UPWC led by Union Minister U Aung Min, and 15 members of the SD led by Naw Zipporah Sein, while technical support team members and officials from MPC also participated in the talk.
“We still have some difficulties. On some points, we also could not provide answers. Talk will resume early next month. I hope precise answers can be provided at that time,” said Nai Hong Sar.
Nai Hong Sar stated that the government side could not provide answers for the goals that the President himself agreed to sign on the NCA, that international leaders were invited to witness, and that all ethnic armed groups were involved.
“The 13 points from Law Khee Lar [summit] have already been discussed. The government side also understood the points that the ethnic [armed group] side proposed and those points have also been negotiated. The essence of the NCA draft, which has taken 17 months, should not disappear,” said U Hla Maung Shwe, a senior advisor from MPC.
UPWC Vice-Chairman U Aung Min also addressed in his speech at the talk the 3 core objectives of the NCA and that the [UPWC] would like the NCA to be signed before the upcoming general elections, which is set to be held in November.
The objectives of the NCA will create a foundation for succeeding governments to implement peace projects and a concrete of ceasefire, and additionally start political discourse.
At the end of the talk, the respective parties released a joint statement. The statement outlined how both sides would work hard to be able to sign the nationwide ceasefire agreement (final draft) as soon as possible, to continue political talks, and to ultimately achieve lasting peace.
