Mon political parties to lead ethnic-based political talks

Mon political parties are planning to cooperate in order to hold ethnic-based political talks, according to Dr. Min Nwe Soe, member of the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC) and general secretary of the All Mon Regions Democracy Party (AMDP).

The UPDJC meeting was held on October 28-29. On the first day the meeting, the State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi labelled the initial political dialogues as a pilot project, which will categorize national-level talks into three groups; region-based, ethnic-based and topic-based.

“We, the three Mon political parties, can hold ethnic based political dialogue. However, this cannot take place in Mon State but rather in Karen State, Tanintharyi Region, Bago Region and Yangon Region. In those four places, the three Mon political parties will cooperate and hold talks,” said Dr. Min Nwe Soe.

Dr. Min Nwe Soe continued that the AMDP will co-operate with the Mon National Party (MNP) and the Women’s Party (Mon) during the political talks.

The UPDJC established that the ethnic-based political talks will only include ethnic armed groups that have already signed the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA). Additionally, the talks will only be recognized as official after the political talks supervising committee approved the talks, and then the results from these recognized talks will be submitted to the union level talks.

After the Mon political parties hold their ethnic based political talks, the results and agreements will be submitted at a government-led region based meeting, according to Min Kyaw Zayar Oo, member of UPDJC and MNP.

“It is necessary to have more points that we agree upon. We Mon people have only one nationality. If we agree on many things, we can then frequently submit the agreements to the union level talks. If the federal system is applied, these will be highly supported,” said Min Kyaw Zayar Oo.

Respective state governments will lead talks in their respective regions. Similarly, respective national talks must be held by political parties and NCA signatory ethnic armed groups. Civil society organizations can also lead talks for respective topic-based talks.

The UPDJC has set region-based, ethnic-based and topic-based talks for the national level political talks at 15 locations, all across the country’s seven states and regions, including Nay Pyi Taw, the capital.