Day Three (4 March 2014)

Meeting my match

If I was happy with my short presentation on the peace process today, it was short-lived.
A young political analyst who has already made a name for himself by his critical articles in Unity, True and D.Wave, told me forthright I could afford to have been more forthright with my remarks.

“This is the government’s deliberate attempt to delay the political dialogue,” he said speaking on the three stages that the government’s Union Peacemaking Work Committee (UPWC) and the resistance coalition Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), namely: Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) signing, Framework for Political Dialogue negotiations and Political Dialogue. “Had it declared a unilateral ceasefire like Gen Ne Win did (in 1963), we would have been engaging in political dialogue for more than two years now.”

Nevertheless, he doesn’t think that there are so much foreign investment in the country the regime could afford to go on without the peace process.

“Firstly, investors are still concerned about the ongoing fighting,” he said. “Secondly, business laws in Burma are still posing as stumbling blocks. Even the CMLV (Cambodia, Malaysia, Laos and Vietnam firm) have packed their bags and gone. Thirdly, the government is talking about combining the FDI (Foreign Direct Investment law) and the citizens’ investment law to make a new law, even though the FDI has just been ratified and enforced. The total investments in the country, as a result, are just a child’s pocket money, compared to those in the neighboring countries.”

He also added that the people are now worse off than they were two decades ago, when new inland and offshore oil and gas fields were discovered.

The day started with opening speeches by Sao Aung Myat, Shan State Chief Minister, and U Paik Htwe, deputy union information minister.

According to the latter, censorship has gone forever since August 2012. And since April 2013, there are 18 private dailies and 389 weeklies, among which are 9 ethnic journals.
One panelist, Nang Calyar Win aka New Thewdar, a member of the Interim Press Council (IPC) urged the 250 plus participants to join in the drafting of the new press law being drawn whose first draft was published last year. (Ratified by Union Assembly yesterday)
In the afternoon, they were off to the Inlay Hotel Zone, leaving me to attend the funeral of an old friend Khun Pang (Unfortunately I missed it by 15 minutes)  and then to visit another friend who I found was entertaining Dr Yan Naing Thein.

We talked for two hours before we parted friends.

I don’t know whether or not he had benefitted from the meeting. (I had told him The Three Kingdoms, a Chinese historical romance , where the righteous and most popular leader was beaten by his rival, who was bad and much hated, but who also turned out to be a better planner and prepared man.) But I decided I emerged from it a much learned man.