Junta reps, five NCA signatories begin peace talks in Nay Pyi Taw

By Admin 26 Jun 2023

DMG Newsroom
26 June 2023, Nay Pyi Taw

Representatives of the junta’s National Solidarity and Peace Negotiation Committee (NSPNC) and delegates from five members of the Peace Process Steering Committee (PPST) held the first of what is slated to be three days of peace talks in the Myanmar capital Nay Pyi Taw on Monday.

The PPST members represented are the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA); Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army-Peace Council (KNU/KNLA-PC); Lahu Democratic Union (LDU) Pa-O National Liberation Organization (PNLO); and Arakan Liberation Party (ALP).

The talks taking place from June 26-28 will discuss the peace process and humanitarian matters, according to Colonel Saw Kyaw Nyunt, spokesman for the seven signatories to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), which includes all five of the PPST members gathering in Nay Pyi Taw this week.

“When the seven NCA signatories met face-to-face in Chiang Mai, they agreed to discuss three main points,” he told DMG. “These points are the 23 general principles that have already been agreed upon by the seven NCA signatories, the issue of humanitarian coordination, and the seven points of the peace process.

The decision on discussion points was made during the seven NCA signatories’ meeting in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on June 17. However, Colonel Saw Kyaw Nyunt told DMG that he did not know what the junta brought up for discussion on Monday as he did not attend the meeting. 

Of the seven NCA signatories, the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) and the New Mon State Party (NMSP) have yet to meet bilaterally with the junta.

When DMG contacted ALP leader Saw Mya Yarzar Lin, the spokesperson for the five PPST members, seeking more details on the substance of Monday’s talks, the person who answered the phone replied: “She’s now busy with the meeting. She said that she will communicate the result after the discussion. The discussion is not over yet.”  

Junta spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun could not be reached for comment.

U Than Soe Naing, a political analyst, noted that arranging for three days of meetings with ethnic armed groups friendly to the regime did not qualify as a breakthrough in the peace process.

“Their discussion must have been due to China’s push to meet,” he suggested. “The five EAOs [ethnic armed organisations] that are meeting now are groups that have signed a ceasefire with the junta. The meeting with the junta and the groups that have signed the peace agreement is nothing special. I see that it is not a discussion that will change anything.”

The junta-controlled Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported of Monday’s meeting that “both sides mutually discussed the points to be amended in the Constitution (2008), implementation of the points agreed upon in the previous discussions, the issues of holding a peace conference, regional stability and the annihilation of the narcotic drugs.” 

Clashes between the junta and EAOs, oftentimes allied with anti-regime forces formed since the 2021 coup have been reported with regularity in Kachin, Kayin, Kayah, Chin and Mon states, and Tanintharyi, Bago and Sagaing regions.

Three out of the 10 NCA signatories — the Karen National Union, Chin National Front and All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF) — have officially declared their opposition to the military coup and have joined anti-regime forces in conflict with the junta.