The currently stranded local peacemaking process will go ahead only after the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) has been reviewed, said Maung Maung Soe, a political and ethnic affairs analyst, said at the RFA’s Saturday Talk program titled “the NCA path with uncertainties” on November 17.
“The NCA has four institutions, namely JMC, JICM, UPDJC and the UPC. In practice, the process has reached a deadlock. On October 15, a separate meeting was held. The new step has emerged. The peacemaking process provokes controversies over the national-level political dialogues. There is only a single sentence in the NCA about the national-level political dialogues. But organizations and groups define the meaning of national-level political dialogue differently. The NRPC needs to review the NCA if it wants to continue sticking to the NCA path for the peace process,” he added.
Out of ten NCA signatories, the Karen National Union (KNU) has temporarily suspended its participation in the peace meetings. In addition, the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) has also suspended its participation in the JMC meetings. This show the NCA is turning back, he pointed out.
“It is difficult for non-signatories to the NCA to include in the stranded peace-making process," he added.
“Seven Northern Alliance armed groups which have not signed the NCA can be attracted to sign the NCA only when 10 NCA signatories can overcome challenges in the peacemaking process. Northern Alliance groups will put finger at the NCA path if NCA signatories don’t meet with success,” he continued.
The informal meeting between the government’s Peace Commission and the KNU, the RCSS takes place in Chiang Mai of Thailand.
