The signing of the planned Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) should not be taken for granted as the armed resistance movements (ARMs) acceptance of the military-drawn 2008 constitution, according to Hkun Okker, the ARMs’ Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT) member.

“I also informed the meeting (between the NCCT and Union Peacemaking Work Committee on 9-10 March) that the NCA signing should not be interpreted as ‘returning to (government’s) legal fold’” the 68-year old PaO leader recounted.

He was speaking in response to the UPWC’s military delegates’ presentation of Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing’s 6 point ‘wish list’:

• To genuinely desire peace
• To keep one’s promises
• Not to take advantage of the peace process
• Not to be a burden to the local populace
• To strictly observe existing laws
• To uphold The Three Causes (Non-disintegration of the Union, Non-disintegration of National Solidarity and Perpetuation of National Sovereignty) by adhering to the 2008 constitution in the democratization process

Hkun Okker said, according to the NCCT, the first 4 points should be for both parties, and not a single party, to abide by.

The Burma Army’s excesses, over the decades, have been reportedly widely by several community-based organizations.

Hkun Okker also clarified the government’s presentation of 3 separate NCA drafts at the Rangoon meeting. “The draft that was circulated during the meeting was one that had polished up the Myitkyina proposal by the military,” he said. “On the sidelines of the meeting, another draft drawn up by the Defense Services (Army) was given. But they were not discussed at the meeting. Instead, the one that was presented and discussed officially at the meeting by Lt-Gen Thet Naing Win was the original Myitkyina draft.”

The Myikyina draft, which reportedly almost terminated the negotiations, contains clauses like: ‘Previous agreements that are in line with existing laws will be ratified’ and ‘Abandoning the armed struggle (by The ARMs)’.

Despite its tough tones, the meeting had been friendlier and franker than previous ones, agreed sources interviewed by SHAN. The one positive outcome was the agreement to draw up a new NCA using a Single Text Document approach.

SHAN had reported on the military’s latest draft, dated 20 February 2014, on 21 March, under the title ‘Naypyitaw makes latest proposal tantalizing’.

‘It is too premature to envisage the outcome at present’, he said, ‘though we are hoping for the best’.

Details of the 9-10 March meeting have yet to come out for public review. The NCCT says the report is due in a few days.

The two sides are due to meet again before the annual Songkran (Thingyan) water festival.