(NCA) inking by the government and ethnic armed groups.
Since the ethnic armed groups proposed to sign NCA in October, there is a 90% certainty it will be signed, according to Dr. Min Zaw Oo, Dr. Min Zaw Oo, director of the MPC’s Ceasefire Negotiation and Implementation Program.
“UN and 6 countries are already invited to be present as witnesses at the signing of the NCA. It is also that we invite these countries, that the ethnic armed groups want them invited too. Also, [domestic] witnesses from the country [Burma] invited are the ones that ethnic groups proposed,” said Dr. Min Zaw Oo.
The invited international witnesses are the UN, EU, Thailand, China, India, Japan and Norway, while domestic witnesses are Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, chairwoman of National League for Democracy (NLD)and Khun Tun Oo, chairman of Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD).
However, according to Dr. Aung Naing Oo of the MPC, because Thailand is a member of ASEAN, it is not sure whether it will sign as a witness, while India also remains undecided whether to sign as a witness due to its fighting on the border with the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Khaplang) [NSCN-K]. And, it’s reportedly said that U Khun Tun Oo would only sign as witness if absolutely all the ethnic armed groups participated in the NCA inking.
Meanwhile, although it was thus far believed that the NCA would be signed in the first week of October, the Kachin Independent Organization (KIO) is not prepared to sign it yet, according to Lieutenant General N’Ban La, deputy chair of the KIO.
“For our KIO, we will sign NCA if all ethnic armed groups are involved in signing. That has been told to the President. Now, the government only accepts 15 ethnic armed groups to sign the NCA. We would like all group members of the SD involved in the NCA inking. But the government does not accept that. When we met with the president in Nay Pyi Daw, we proposed it, but it was nothing special. So, we have to discuss it with the groups that the government does not accept. This is how we can push for a good solution. So, we do not do it on the date of of first week of September proposed by the President. It is not like we cannot accept the date. The NCA must be signed but I would like to inform the public that we are not ready to sign it on the date that the president said,” said Gen. N’Ban La, while meeting Kachin people at a Kachin church, in Sanchaung Township, Rangoon, on September 11.
According to Dr. La Ja, general secretary of KIO, a meeting will be held on September 25-26, wherein the outcomes, from meeting between the president and ethnic armed group’s 5 top leaders, will be submitted and discussed among the other ethnic leaders who did not get to meet with the president.
