Arakan Army has no plan to hold political talks with Myanmar junta: spokesman

By DMG 05 Mar 2022

DMG Newsroom
5 March 2022, Sittwe

The Arakan Army (AA) has no plan to hold political talks with the Myanmar junta because the military regime is not an elected government, said the ethnic armed group’s spokesman U Khaing Thukha.

“If we are to discuss politics, it might not be OK for us to discuss in a landscape that we don’t like. So, it depends on the situation. Peace is about ceasefire. Political dialogue is about negotiating political give-and-take,” the spokesman said during an online AA press conference on Saturday.

“So, if we are to discuss political give-and-take, it would only be OK to discuss with the legitimate government, which we define as the government elected by the government and ruling in line with the Constitution. We can’t hold political talks with a government that has seized power in a coup,” he explained.

The AA and Myanmar’s military have observed an unofficial ceasefire since November 2020, but the two sides have yet to reach any concrete agreement, said U Khaing Thukha.

“We have not signed an official ceasefire agreement. So, things can change at any time, and it is hard to predict what may happen,” said the AA spokesman.

The military regime has invited ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) including the AA to hold talks under the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) framework, but EAOs have shown little interest in the junta’s latest peace offer.

The AA has been able to establish its influence in about 60% of Arakan State’s territory, according to U Khaing Thukha.