Nay Pyi Taw, 29 September
The military council, which has deployed troops almost all over the country to fight the revolutionary forces that sprang up after the military coup, is planning to hold an annual ceremony of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA).
On October 15, the NCA’s 8th anniversary celebration will be organized in a practical and meaningful manner, said Lt. Gen. Yar Pyae, Chairman of the NCA Annual Ceremony Steering Committee and Union Minister for Home Affairs.
He also clarified the policy at the coordination meeting of the steering committee to celebrate NCA’s 8th anniversary on September 25.
On the other hand, the National Solidarity and Peacemaking Negotiation Committee (NSPNC) and some ethnic armed groups are in talks about the NCA event.
Colonel Saw Kyaw Nyunt, spokesperson for the NCA signatories, told Than Lwin Times that the NCA anniversary ceremony will simply be an event to bring together the leaders who signed the NCA and foreign witnesses.
The NCA was signed on October 15, 2015, by the leaders of eight ethnic armed groups, the government, the junta army, and Hluttaw leaders under President U Thein Sein.
The NCA was signed and approved by the Union Hluttaw in the presence of ambassadors from China, India, and Thailand, as well as local witnesses, including the United Nations.
Following that, the New Mon State Party and the Lahu Democratic Union joined the NCA on February 13, 2018, during the NLD administration led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
There were up to 10 ethnic armed organizations that signed the NCA, but after the military coup, the Karen National Union (KNU), the Chin National Front (CNF) and the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF) have turned their backs the NCA and stopped talks with the military council.
According to political analyst U Than Soe Naing, “The NCA no longer has any important role in Myanmar’s conflict. The ethnic armed forces and key organizations have abandoned the NCA. That’s why I believe that the military council’s efforts to solve Myanmar’s crisis by sticking with this NCA will not be effective.”
Many claim that the NCA agreement has been nullified due to the military regime seizing power by force on the grounds of voter fraud in the 2020 general election.
On the other hand, those NCA-signatories who are in talks with the military council maintain the essence of the NCA and claim that the agreement is not null and void.
However, the military council has struggled to adhere to the NCA in order to maintain lasting peace throughout the country in the nearly three years since the seizure of power amid the raging civil war.
News-Than Lwin Times
Photo-CINCDS
Thanlwintimes