The joint statement that was released at the conclusion of the first formal talks on 20 February between Naypyitaw’s Union Peacemaking Working Committee (UPWC) and the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), the alliance of 11 armed organizations, spoke about the discussion on the draft framework for political dialogue.

Although further details were understandably not given, it is believed to include the following specific points:

Core principles      : Is the government still bound to 1947 Panglong?
                           : Is the government’s Three Main Causes acceptable to the armed opposition?

Composition         : Who, which category of persons are to participate in the dialogue? How many from each category?

Structure             : How is the dialogue convening commission to be set up? How many from each category of participants? How many work teams must be established to prepare facts and figures (discussion papers) for each talking point?

Agenda               : What are the topics (talking points) to be discussed at the dialogue? Which topics should be discussed first and which reserved for later discussions?
                           (The proposed topics include.

• Humanitarian assistance
• Basic rights and national reconciliation
• Economic development cooperation and reform
• Judicial reform
• Land reform and drugs
• Power sharing
• Security and “one country, one military” principle
• Constitutional federal democracy)

Roadmap            : What must be done before and after the dialogue?

The UNFC, together with the Working Group for Ethnic Coordination (WGEC) set up last year to help prepare for the dialogue, had concluded that three things must be done before the new Panglong is convened:

Furthermore, how the agreements reached at the new Panglong be ratified and implemented.

Timeframe           : How long should the dialogue take, until 2015 or beyond 2015? What should be done if there are topics that have yet to be discussed before the 2015 elections?

Civil Society Organizations (CSOs):

What roles the CSOs should play in the peace process?

At least the above-stated outline should be considered and discussed at the next meeting between the two sides, probably after the Songkran (Thingyan),13-16 April.

For the long suffering people, it may be a long, long time to wait for. For SHAN, the fervent prayer is that all goes well with the peace process and there isn’t a joker in the pack. But it may be too much to wish for.