A joint implementation coordination meeting on Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement held in progress in Yangon on 25 October 2017. Photo: Phoe Htaung
A meeting was held in the National Reconciliation and Peace Centre office in Yangon yesterday morning to discuss the negotiation process between the Union Government and armed ethnic groups towards the nationwide ceasefire agreement.
The opening remarks at the meeting were given by Union Attorney General U Htun Htun Oo, Tatmadaw Representative Lieutenant General Yar Pyae, and the head of the NCA appraisal committee Yebaw Than Gae.
U Htun Htun Oo said the appraisal meeting was held with agreement from everybody and that it was necessary to review the decisions made and what steps were necessary to move forward.
“I believe that we were able to carry out most of the NCA’s necessary requirements,” said U Htun Htun Oo.
He said they were able to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the NCA meeting and figure out the steps needed to move forward.
He said that the NCA’s viewpoint was mostly from the ethnic people’s perspective and was carried out since the previous government’s administration.
Lt-Gen Yar Pyae said the realisation of the NCA agreement took two years to complete, but that the current processes were not utilised in the negotiations, so it is needed to control the current progress. The current necessary structure of the NCA will be discussed in the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) and the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC) meetings.
Lt-Gen Yar Pyae said it is up to the government and the ethnic armed groups to make sure the traction of the NCA meeting does not halt so that we reach the federal democracy that our country envisioned. He said the NCA is a means to reach a federal democratic country and that it is important for both sides to discuss which part of the NCA needs more attention. He hopes that, “we as ethnic brothers discuss this with brotherly spirit in our hearts.”
There are seven parts to the NCA agreement: (1) The basics (2) Goals (3) Ceasefire Agreements (4) Strengthening Ceasefire agreements (5) Agreements on Political Dialogue (6) Necessary steps moving forward (7) Miscellaneous.
NCA appraisal committee Yebaw Than Gae said there were some difficulties during the implementation of the NCA agreements. He said the meeting was focused on finding solutions for those difficulties. The first and second part of the NCA were focused on agreements of policies. He said the third and fourth parts of the NCA were focused on the Joint Monitoring Committee, and the fifth part was more of a political roadmap. He said the sixth part of the NCA was for affairs during the intervals of the agreement to focus on education, IDPs and other cases between the two sides.
“We will overcome the different parts together,” said Yebaw Than Gae. The meeting held yesterday was attended by 11 members of the union government, Hluttaw and Tatmadaw and eleven other representatives of armed ethnic groups who signed the NCA agreement.—Ye Khaung Nyunt
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