UNFC to Meet with Govt Peace Commission

By Lun Min Mang / Myanmar Times | October 14, 2016

The Delegation for Political Negotiation is meeting in Nay Pyi Taw tomorrow with the government’s peace commission, a member of the commission said yesterday.

The DPN is a negotiating body for the United Nationalities Federal Council, a coalition of seven armed groups that did not sign last year’s nationwide ceasefire agreement.

The talks will focus on “unfinished tasks” in negotiations between the UNFC and the government, said U Aung Kyi, a member of the peace commission.

Among the topics to be discussed will be the UNFC’s eight-point list of demands submitted ahead of the 21st-century Panglong Conference, which was held at the end of August.

“We will talk about some negotiations and compromises. There will be an exchange of perspectives by the two sides,” U Aung Kyi said, adding that State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will not be participating in the meeting.

A source involved in the peace process said the ongoing fighting between the Tatmadaw and the Kachin Independence Army, an influential group inside the UNFC, will be on the table at tomorrow’s meeting.

Fighting between the Tatmadaw and the KIA revived in mid-August in Kachin and northern Shan states, and persisted throughout September. Thousands were reportedly displaced due to the fighting.

The UNFC’s demands include the declaration of a bilateral ceasefire by both the Tatmadaw and the UNFC, working toward the establishment of a federal Union, and agreement on the composition of tripartite dialogue.

Others demands include drafting and activating a constitution based on the outcomes of the 21st-century Panglong Conference, agreement on military codes of conduct, and the formation of a military Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) with representatives from the government, ethnic armed organisations and international figures acceptable to both parties.

The UNFC also wants to see the formation of a neutral enforcement tribunal for the nationwide ceasefire agreement involving domestic and international law experts and judges that are acceptable to both parties, and developmental projects to be tackled according to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in cooperation with the public and ethnic armed organisations.

Meanwhile, the eight ethnic armed groups that signed the nationwide ceasefire agreement with the then-ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party government are holding ceremony in Nay Pyi Taw tomorrow to mark the one-year anniversary of the ceasefire signing.