UNFC Will Not Attend Framework for Political Dialogue Review

Burma News International (BNI) | September 14, 2016

The United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), a coalition of ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) that have not signed the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) said its representatives will not attend the meeting to review the framework for political dialogue.

The UNFC made the announcement after its central executive committee held an emergency meeting in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand on 10 and 11 September.

The UNFC Joint General Secretary (1), U Tun Zaw, said that before attending any framework for political dialogue meetings the UNFC would first have to meet with the Burmese Government to discuss the eight supplementary points that the UNFC wants added to the NCA.

He said: “The government has started inviting

[EAOs] to the meeting on reviewing the framework [for political dialogue]. We have been invited to attend the meeting, which will be held from the 15 to 17 [September]. We replied that the time is not right for us now. We have to submit reports to our respective headquarters after the 21st Century Panglong Conference. At the same time, there are also eight demands we have made concerning the NCA. The government has agreed to continue discussing these demands so we want to discuss them first.”

The UNFC has asked the officials from the government’s National Reconciliation Peace Centre (NRPC) to meet with them again at the end of this month to discuss the amendments they want made to the NCA. The provisional date set for the meeting is 25 September.

At the UNFC emergency meeting in Chiang Mai the central executive committee reviewed the outcomes of the 21st Century Panglong Conference (also called the Union Peace Conference) and the current political situation before coming up with five proposals for the future, which at present they will not make public.

They also confirmed that the UNFC will continue to strive for peace, a nationwide ceasefire and the building of a genuine federal democratic union.

U Tun Zaw said: “In this first meeting of the 21st Century Panglong Conference, we had transparency and we were able to submit our views and justify them to the public. We considered it a historic conference. We have honoured the government led by President U Htin Kyaw and our State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.”

He added: “During the conference, we gave our views on the need for the Burma Army to halt its on the ground offensives, which are a major hindrance. The culture of solving political issue with political method does not thrive because of these on the ground offensives. That’s why we have urged them to really observe the peace so that this political culture can thrive.”

The UNFC Central Executive Committee has also agreed that the UNFC chairman should send a letter to the U.S. president requesting that the U.S continue imposing economic sanctions against Burma.

The UNFC leaders also decided that they would select representatives to send out to study the peace process in South Africa and the federal way of governance in Switzerland.

The UNFC was established on November 2010. Its current members are: the New Mon State Party (NMSP), the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA), the Arakan National Council (ANC), the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), the Lahu Democratic Union (LDU), and the Wa National Organisation (WNO).

The Ta-ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army are at present still UNFC members, but they have submitted their resignations to the UNFC. They have stopped taking part in any UNFC activities and are expected to formally split from the organisation in December.

Translated by Thida Linn
Edited in English by Mark Inkey for BNI

This article originally appeared on Burma News International (BNI) on September 14, 2016