Junta wants to hear voices of ethnic groups, says ALP vice chairwoman

By DMG 22 Aug 2022

DMG Newsroom
22 August 2022, Sittwe
 
The Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) has said that the military junta is willing to listen to the voices of Myanmar’s ethnic groups as calls grow for a resolution to the country’s multiple, ongoing crises.
 
The regime wants to implement peace and wants to meet with leaders from all ethnic armed groups, said Saw Mya Yarzar Lin, vice chairwoman of the ALP.
 
“The military chief said that when discussing peace with ethnic armed groups, a decision must be made after a detailed analysis,” she said.
 
Representatives from the ALP, Pa-O National Liberation Organisation and Lahu Democratic Union — all signatories to the 2015 Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) — arrived in Naypyidaw on August 21 to hold peace talks with the military junta, and met with coup leader Min Aung Hlaing the following day.
 
They discussed prospects for a political path that will lead to national peace and reform of the administrative system, as well as development for the Arakanese people in connection with the prosperity of the country, she added.
 
“Our main hope is that the country’s administrative system needs to be reformed. We are holding peace talks with the military council to discuss the fundamental considerations that we need to reform the administrative systems of this country,” she said.
 
Saw Mya Yarzar Lin said a partial agreement was reached after attending the Union Peace Conference under previous administrations, and that there are still points to discuss. She added that since these issues are related to the whole of Arakan State, the ALP has accepted that all of the stakeholders in Arakan State will need to be included in future discussions.
 
Calling 2022 the “Year of Peace,” Min Aung Hlaing has been trying to persuade Myanmar’s ethnic armed groups (EAOs) to meet with him for discussions ostensibly aimed at ending the country’s long-running civil war, which has taken on new dimensions since the military coup on February 1, 2021.
 
Among the EAOs that have held separate talks with the generals were seven signatories to the NCA and three non-signatories.
 
On August 16, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing said he would hold a second round of peace talks and attempt to sign a peace treaty in September.