Chin Party Issues Statement on National-Level Political Dialogue

The Chin National Democratic Party (CNDP) Secretary Salai Ceu O Bik Thawng has told Mizzima that their party issued a Statement on February 8 regarding the Government not letting them hold national-level political dialogue in Chin State.

Salai Ceu O Bik Thawng said, “We have already made all preparations for that meeting. We assume that they deliberately did not give permission to hold this meeting so we issued a statement today.”

“The national-level political meeting is very important. Union Peace Conference has been held two times. In fact, it was held in January and the 21st Panglong Conference was held for the first time to welcome the new government led by Aung San Suu Kyi. We have held these conferences without dynamic and vibrant political dialogue. And in accordance with the political framework adopted (in the peace process) we must hold these national-level political dialogues. We believe that it will be meaningless to hold this Union Peace Conference for the third time without these national-level political dialogues.“He added.

In their 6-point demand in the statement, Chin National Democratic Party expressed that they had already prepared for holding the national-level political dialogue (Chin) since November 2016 with Chin National Front (CNF), Chin political parties and Chin CSOs so they seriously and profoundly demand the Union Government to let them hold this dialogue at the earliest date.

The Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) authorizes ethnic organisations to hold national-level political dialogues in territories of signatories of the NCA. The outcomes of political dialogues will be presented to Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC) for approval and will be forwarded to the biannual Panglong Conference.