Observers say regime peace talks with NCA signatories not likely to deliver

By Admin 30 Mar 2023

DMG Newsroom
30 March 2023, Sittwe

Peace talks between the junta’s peace negotiating team and seven signatories to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) will not deliver any positive steps toward internal peace in Myanmar, observers say.

The regime’s National Solidarity and Peace Negotiation Committee and the seven NCA signatories held informal peace talks from March 28-29 in Naypyidaw.

Senior members of the Restoration Council of Shan State, Arakan Liberation Party, New Mon State Party, Democratic Karen Benevolent Army, Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army-Peace Council, Lahu Democratic Union and Pa-O National Liberation Organization attended the meeting.

“The first day of informal talks focused on creating an all-inclusive political dialogue, different stages of the peace process, and basic federal principles,” according to the NCA signatories.

But political observers say the talks between the regime and NCA signatories do not stand a chance of achieving meaningful outcomes given the current political and military dynamics at play across much of the country.

“We don’t know what they discussed at the meeting. However, there is no way the meeting can help bring about peace,” said political analyst U Than Soe Naing. “While they are holding continuous talks, continuous clashes occur elsewhere.”

The regime organises talks with NCA signatories just for show, according to critics, who contend that the junta should be sitting down with the powerful ethnic armed organisations that it is clashing with if it really wants to establish peace.

The NCA signatories, meanwhile, have largely remained silent about their latest discussions with the regime. DMG was still unable to obtain comment from their spokesman, Colonel Sai Kyaw Nyunt, at the time of reporting.

The seven NCA signatories also previously held talks with the regime, with no appreciable change to the scale or frequency of the various conflicts raging across Myanmar since the military’s February 2021 coup.