Day One (9 June 2013)

One of the obvious reasons the armed opposition has refused to enter government-controlled territory is because one is, at least psychologically, disadvantaged over one’s counterpart in the control of a situation. Many, like the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers, have therefore conducted their negotiations outside the country.

Chairman Yawdserk however has adopted a different approach. He insisted that the first meeting, in 2008, must be held in a third country where each side would have an equal chance to put the feelers out on the other before deciding on the course of action to be taken.



Naypyitaw, in response to the call, sent its “Minister Without Borders” U Aung Min in November 2011 to Thailand. 5 of the movements met him in Chiangrai on 19 November, 4 of which have since signed the ceasefire: Chin National Front (CNF), Karen National Union (KNU), Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) and Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS).

The other group was the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), whose 1994 ceasefire agreement had been broken since June, 5 months earlier.

This is the second trip made by Chairman Yawdserk at the invitation of U Aung Min, Minister for President’s Office and Vice Chairman of the Union Peacemaking Work Committee (UPWC) as well as the head of the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC). The first was in May of last year where he visited Kengtung and signed a 12-point union level agreement.
At noon (Thai Standard Time which is 30 minutes ahead of Burma), we crossed the border, escorted by (MAS) officials. The latter, for the benefit of new readers, is the successor to its more well-known and defunct Military Intelligence Service (MIS).

Once across the border, we were immediately driven to the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy’s (SNLD) Tachilek branch office, which was inaugurated that morning by the party’s top leaders.

There, we were received by Hkun Htun Oo, Chairman; Sai Nyunt Lwin, Vice Chairman and Sai La, General Secretary and Spokesman.

They informed Lt-Gen Yawdserk of the immediate need to hold a summit composed of leaders of 2 Shan political parties and 2 Shan armed movements, due to the 2 June meeting between Hkun Htun Oo and President Thein Sein at the MPC. There, witnessed by the President himself, U Soe Thein deputy head of MPC and another minister for President’s Office, and U Khin Maung Soe, minister for electric power; Hkun Htun Oo was asked by U Aung Min whether he could assist in the effort to “facilitate reconciliation” in Shan State. He accepted “the challenge” without hesitation, he said.

Yawdserk heartily agreed to his proposal. The result was the tentative setting of 12 June as the date for the summit. The venue would be in Rangoon and arranged by the SNLD.
We were later whisked off to the Tachilek airport to wait for our plane, on Yangon Airline. Yawdserk later remarked to me that he agreed Hkun Htun Oo was the correct choice.



He also told me that the United Wa State Army (UWSA) was reportedly concerned about his visit to Naypyitaw. “They thought that there must be something fishy about it as it is taking place while tensions are growing between Panghsang (the Wa capital on the Chinese border) and Naypyitaw,” he said. “I replied to the source that the Wa leadership need not worry themselves over it, as the visit has been planned for a long time. Also I will be speaking not only for Shans but the whole Shan State and it includes the Wa.”

The RCSS/SSA and the UWSA fought a brief war in 2005 and while there has been no fighting between the two since, the relationship has not been at its best. Yawdserk said he had sent delegations to Panghsang and written letters to the Wa leaders but so far there has been no response.

“Well, we will be riding a Wa plane now,” I told him. Yangon Airline reportedly belongs to Hsiao Haw, a son-in-law of the Wa supreme leader Bao Youxiang. “If they want to do something to you, now’s their big chance.” He just smiled and said nothing.

At 15:30, the plane took off. It stopped in Kengtung and Mandalay. At 17:30 we were in Naypyitaw. “Yangon Airways wasn’t supposed to land in Naypyitaw,” said U Aung Min, who headed the reception committee, said triumphantly. “But we made a special arrangement for you.”

Yadana Theingha (Rattana Singgha) was the hotel chosen for us. According to U Aung Min, it is owned by U Win Myint, Minister of Commerce. It was in a hotel zone where several new hotels are under construction, to be completed in time for the upcoming Southeast Asian (SEA) Games due to be held late this year.

At the dinner party hosted, of course held by U Aung Min, we were informed of the meeting with President Thein Sein at 10:00 and the dinner party hosted by Vice President Sai Mawk Kham at 19:00 tomorrow. “We have also arranged a series of meetings with government ministers,” he said.

The UPWC has also set another meeting with the KIO in Myitkyina, 25-26 June. “If all goes well, we are planning to hold a meeting to sign a nationwide ceasefire agreement,” he added. “An all-inclusive union conference is to follow it.”

Well, so far so good, I thought. I was also reasonably convinced the meeting with the President would go well. The target audience, I reminded myself as I closed my eyes, wasn’t Yawdserk but the people both inside and outside who are watching us. It has to look good, right?