On peace pact’s anniversary, Min Aung Hlaing invites EAOs to sign NCA

By Admin 16 Oct 2023

DMG Newsroom
16 October 2023, Naypyidaw
 
Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing vowed to uphold the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) in Myanmar’s peace process and urged non-signatories to sign the deal as he addressed an anniversary event for the peace pact on Sunday.
 
The NCA is still in effect, claimed the regime chief, who called the pact the result of four years of discussions and an historic milestone.
 
“I invite ethnic armed organisations [EAOs] that have not yet signed the NCA to join the dialogue so that they can actively participate in building a Union based on democracy and federalism, and national development tasks,” Min Aung Hlaing told attendees of Sunday’s event.
 
The regime should stop fighting on the ground if it is truly desirous of peace, said EAO critics.
 
Arakanese politician U Pe Than said non-signatories to the NCA are unlikely to join the peace talks offered by the regime as not only EAOs but pro-democracy forces in central Myanmar have been fighting the regime since the 2021 coup.
 
“Even the NCA signatories have been fighting the regime,” said U Pe Than. “The People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) led by [ethnic] Bamar in central Myanmar are growing stronger. It has become more difficult for the regime to exert control. It has invited non-signatories to sign the NCA hoping that it can avoid potential clashes with them.”
 
Three signatories — the Chin National Front, Karen National Union and All Burma Students Democratic Front — that have been fighting the regime released a joint statement on October 12, saying the NCA had been rendered void by the coup and air attacks targeting civilians.
 
“The coup violates the fundamental principles and objectives of the NCA and also rendered the 2008 Constitution void, which halted the [peace] process and peace talks based on the NCA,” reads the statement.
 
Restoration Council of Shan State chair General Yawd Serk, who attended the eighth anniversary NCA event, said the peace process had stalled due to a failure to engage in talks.
 
“The political crisis arose regarding the 2020 general election, and as political problems could not be solved through political means, implementation of the NCA stalled. Peace efforts were wasted,” said Yawd Serk.
 
U Aung Min, who served on the peace negotiation team of the former U Thein Sein government, said the NCA must continue to exist as an official channel for communication between EAOs and the regime.
 
“The two sides have their own laws. So, who’s law will they follow when they hold peace talks? The NCA is the law that both sides can accept. Which platform will they use if there is no NCA? The NCA must therefore exist,” said U Aung Min.
 
Meanwhile, the Myanmar regime has been engaged in near-daily clashes with EAOs including the Kachin Independence Army, Ta’ang National Liberation Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, KNU and Karenni Nationalities Defense Force, as well as the People’s Defence Forces (PDFs) that arose in response to the coup.
 
Across Myanmar, about 2 million people are internally displaced by those armed conflicts, with around 1.7 million displaced since the coup, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
 
More than 86,000 buildings have been torched across the country in junta arson attacks since the coup, the Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar reported last month.