Nay Pyi Taw, 13 October
The seven NCA-signatory ethnic armed groups will attend the 8th anniversary of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), which will be led by military regime, according to the Peace Process Steering Team (PPST).
The NCA signatories that will attend the NCA annual event are the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), the New Mon State Party (NMSP), the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), the Karen Peace Council, the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), the Pa’o National Liberation Organization (PNLO), and the Lahu Democratic Union (LDU).
Those seven ethnic armed organizations have held peace talks with the military council at least six times, either individually or as a group, following the coup.
The military council has invited ethnic armed organizations, including international organizations, to attend the NCA annual event that will be held on October 15 in a meaningful way.
Nan Yin Yin Soe, a spokesperson for the Peace Process Steering Team (PPST), told Than Lwin Times, “After the ceremony, we will discuss the NCA’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as the processes to be implemented. There are currently no plans for specific peace talks between the seven NCA signatories and the military council.”
The military council is preparing for the NCA annual ceremony to show their status to the international community, and the ethnic cultural dance group has arrived in Nay Pyi Taw to perform.
In the area of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), which was invited by the military council to attend the NCA ceremony, 29 civilians, including children, were killed in Mung Lai Hka IDP camp as a result of the junta bombardment in recent days.
The Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) was signed on October 15, 2015, under President U Thein Sein by eight ethnic armed groups, the government, the army and the Hluttaw.
Following that, the New Mon State Party (NMSP) and the Lahu Democratic Union (LDU) joined the NCA on February 13, 2018, during the NLD government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
None of the three NCA-signatories – Karen National Union (KNU), the Chin National Front (CNF) and the Student Army (ABSDF) – hold talks with the military council due to the 2021 military coup and have walked away from the NCA and are participating in the spring revolution.
The military regime has been engaged in ground battles with some ethnic armed organizations, including the People’s Defense Forces (PDF), which sprung up as a result of the coup while deploying troops all over the country in two and a half years of military coup.
News-Than Lwin Times
Photo-MOI
Thanlwintimes