(The author is a South Asia expert with the Yangon-based Myanmar Egress, a non-profit organization founded by Myanmar scholars and social workers)
As Aung San Suu Kyi’s government took its seats in parliament in April this year, the new government announced that the peace process was one of its most important priorities and that it would be led by the state counselor herself. The previous government managed to agree a ceasefire document between the ethnic armed groups (EAGs) and the military, however the process had faltered when it came to the signing of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) as three of the armed groups were not allowed to come to the table and the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) insisted on an all-inclusive process. In the end, only eight EAGs joined the process in October 2015, just before the November general elections.
As the new government took over, they were committed to the NCA, but decided to call the 21st Century Panglong Conference to bring all the EAGs together rather than stick to the agreed schedule that the NCA had prescribed.
The timing for the Union Peace Conference (UPC) was rushed, as Suu Kyi wanted it to be completed before her forthcoming US trip that will include her addressing the UN assembly in New York. The rush meant that disagreements on the status of the same three groups who had not been included last October were not resolved and they were not allowed to attend. Despite the lack of inclusiveness, the UNFC members agreed to come, as one leader explained – to honor and show support for the new government.
The UPC could not have been more different both in style and substance from the previous government’s process. The changes in personnel at the National Reconciliation Centre (formerly the Myanmar Peace Centre) mean that a lot of the protocol on how to treat the EAG leaders that had been learnt over the three years of protracted NCA negotiations has been lost.
While in October 2015, all guests at the NCA signing were received either at the airport or at the hotel by delegates who facilitated the check-in process and made sure everyone had all they needed to attend the ceremony the following day, this time a much smaller and vastly over-stretched organizing committee was not able to receive the guests properly.
This resulted in a number of mishaps in hotels and the United Wa State Army (UWSA) delegation being allocated observer rather than participant status. EAG leaders were not addressed by their military titles, with U (Mr) used instead of the appropriate rank. Some ethnic leaders who played a key role in developing the NCA were not accorded seats in the VIP section, and relegated to the back.
Organizers claimed misunderstandings and apologized, however a number of EAGs were upset and the UWSA walked out. For the EAGs, an important part of the peace process is being accorded equal status both by the government and the military. In this case, many felt that Burman discrimination was back at work.
More important than form however was content. The conference was not set out to allow for any discussion. A series of presentations by all groups followed Suu Kyi’s opening speech. There was no time for questions and answers, there was no debate or discussion. The papers did not say anything new, or anything that had not been discussed during the three years of negotiations under the previous government. While Ban Ki-moon’s presence certainly emphasized the importance of the occasion, the event was overshadowed by the heavy presence of Myanmar-based UN agencies.
One could argue that more important than the presence of the FAO or USAIDS at a peace conference would have been greater representation of local ethnic civil society groups who have been working for peace for decades under the shadow of reoccurring conflict.
Where does the UPC leave us now? It is not quite clear. Another conference is planned in six months’ time. Till then it is hoped that a new political framework will be agreed. Two questions overshadow the future: Will the three groups be allowed to join the process? Will NCA non-signatories have to sign the NCA before taking part? Perhaps the interim discussions will allow what the conference did not – for debate and discussion across the spectrum, leading to greater trust and possibly to a final ceasefire agreement that all are happy with. However to get to this point, it looks like the new government still has a lot of work to do. http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1006891.shtml
Comments are closed.