By: Sai Wansai
Thursday, 21 February 2013

Ultimately, talking is better than shooting at each other. But the Burmese double-track approach must be seen a "good-cop, bad-cop" tactical move and cannot totally be seen as sincere undertakings, leading to a "win-win" situation.

As if to show the Thein Sein regime’s insincerity, the armed conflict with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has not even completely stopped, the Burma Army starts launching another offensive against the Shan State Army- North (SSA-N), in Shan State, while the U Aung Min-led negotiation team was meeting with the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), on Wednesday.

But there might be a faint hope that the quasi-civilian, military-backed, Thein Sein government is reluctantly changing its approach, due to international pressures or out of political necessity, to accommodate some of the non-Burman ethnic demands and rights of self-determination by agreeing to meet with the UNFC. But this still could be just to hood-wink the international community not to withdraw its various financial help and already lifted economic sanctions, by showing that the government is still pursuing its reconciliation policy, when in fact, it is determined only to go on with its demand of "total surrender and acceptance of military-drawn, 2008 Constitution", without giving in to ethnic aspiration of federalism demand.

To put it differently, the regime point of view is that the non-Burman ethnic groups should abandon their original demand of going back to Panglong Agreement of 1947 and accept terms of "unitary system with Burman-dominated government", while surrendering their arms and aspirations of self-determination, equality and democracy. It is as simple as that.

The question to be asked here is why can't the Thein Sein government declare nation-wide ceasefire, stop all so-called area cleaning offensives in ethnic areas and call for all-inclusive dialogue to show its real good intention for serious reconciliation talks.

The answer could be that it is only ready to make peace on its own terms, which is neither federal nor democratic, under its military supremacy, 2008 Constitution.

It shouldn't be hard to order all the government troops to return to their mother bases, declare nation-wide ceasefire and call for all-inclusive dialogue. It only needs real courage and "political will" to do it.

The contributor is the General Secretary of Shan Democratic Union (SDU) - Editor