To Hopeland and Back: The 21st trip for the 21st Century Panglong
Day Eleven. Thursday,
1 September 2016
Each partner
gets what he wants out of the deal,
which is the
essence of successful negotiation
The Global Negotiator
One good thing about
the conference is that it is being broadcast live on radio and television. Now
people don’t have to wait to read from state and private media to make up their
minds about it.
(Some later told me
that very few of the presenters spoke in a language that can be understood by
ordinary folks. “At least The Lady did better than most,” one remarks. I hope
presenters for future conferences take note of it.)
Here are the excepts
from the presentations today, plus my remarks.
U Kyaw Tint Swe: The well
has been dug. The water is clear. What’s needed is just to draw the water.
U Win Htein: (Repeating
what The Lady said earlier) we should consider more about what we can give rather
than what we want.
U
Myint Soe, retired general, Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP):
·
We need peace because of two reasons:
One, we have big powers around us, and two, we have different ethnic peoples in
our country.
·
The weakness of the 1947 constitution plunged
our country into a civil war
·
We should employ a geographic system (for
names of states, instead of ethnic-based names)
·
We should prevent the country from
becoming a confederation
·
Ideas like “8 state configuration” and “multinational
states” can lead to the disintegration of the Union
My remark: The
theme presented by him is reiterated further by almost all of the 10 military
presenters.
Col Tint Naing Aye, Tatmadaw:
The military
presenters’ job is to reassure all of us that the military drafted 2008
constitution is a federal one, which matches every cardinal characteristic of a
federal state.
Several of them keep
referring to Ronald Watts (1929-2015), a Canadian academic who had written a
book on federalism. I have never heard of him coming to Hopeland to lecture
anybody, let alone the military. Which makes me wonder. (it would take me 4
more days to find out who the culprit was.)
The
Karen National Union (KNU), Karen Peace Council (KPC) and the Democratic Karen
Benevolent Army (DKBA) do a good job of presenting a combined paper, which is
divided into 3 ten-minute parts and read out by 3 presenters. The United
Nationalities Federal Council, better known by its initials UNFC, “inspired” by
the trio, is also to make a 5-part presentation tomorrow).
Dr Aye Maung,
Arakan National Party
·
To establish a Union made up of ethnic
states
·
There must be a Bamar/Burman state
·
Residuary power rests with the
constituent states (which I think is interpreted by the military as turning the
country into a confederation, instead of a federation
·
There
must be state defense forces commanded by respective state governments
Dr Lian Hmung
Sakhong, Chin National Front (CNF)
He gives an excellent
short account of the original Panglong and recommends that a democratic federal
union instituting both “self rule” and “shared rule” be established.
Sai
Tun Aye, Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD)
The party and its
members mostly never mince with words. Its message is the emergence of a “new
constitution” that bows to the wishes of the people.
Mai
Win Htoo, General Secretary, Ta’ang National Party (TNP)
·
Our children have become servants in
neighboring countries due to the fratricidal fighting
·
States should be established based on
both geography and ethnicity. All those who fulfill the criteria should be
allowed to form own states, including Wa, PaO, Palaung-Ta’ang, and Bamar.
(which draws laughter from the audience)
Arakan
Liberation Party (ALP)
Arakan at that time
was in Burma Proper and we learned that Gen Aung San had signed it on our
behalf. (He also signed it for Mon and Karen, both of which, like Arakan or
Rakhine, were incorporated by the British in Burma Proper, otherwise known as
Ministerial Burma, unlike Shan, Chin, Kachin and Karenni which were separate
entities-my remark.) The most important
however were the promises of the agreement. Sadly, these promises and essence
are still in a submerged state.
U Shwe Min,
Lisu National Development Party (LNDP)
To establish a Lisu
Self Administered Zone in Kachin State, made up of 5 townships: Khaolam Phu,
Sawlaw, Chipwe, Machanbaw and Putao.
Note: There are 18
townships in Kachin State
Dr Manam Tuja,
Kachin State Democratic Party
Had we not trusted Gen
Aung San’s promise made on 28 November 1946 in Myitkyina, we would not have
decided to join the 1947 Panglong Conference.
Note: He spoke for 16
minutes, prompting MCs to warn him several times.
U Yan Kyaw, Wa
Democratic party (WDP)
To re-recognize the
original Wa State as evidenced by the world and Myanmar maps.
Note: 1.
An old map designated the Wa dominated areas as “Unfederated Wa States,”
meaning the Wa principalities unlike Shan principalities, were not formed into
a federation. They became part of Shan State via the 1947 constitution.
2.
Meanwhile the United Wa State Army (UWSA) representatives, led by a liaison
officer from Tachilek, left in a huff after being “discriminately treated” by
the conference organizers. Their left behind paper recommends that a people
with a population of 100,000 should be entitled to a Self Administered Zone
(SAZ), those with 200,000 a Self Administered Division (SAD) and 300,000
upwards a state.
3.Another
Wa party, the Wa National Unity Party is to demand 10 townships in eastern Shan
State including Kengtung to be included in the new Wa State.
U Yawthat (Joseph), Lahu National Development Party
To establish a Lahu
self Administered Zone (SAZ).
(After his ten minutes
were over, he tried to say a few more words. But the MCs had got wise. They
just shut down his speaker forcing him to stop his speech mid air, bow down and
leave the podium.)
Note According
to Naypyitaw, at least two adjoining townships with an ethnicity in each more
than 50% of its population are eligible to form an SAZ. The Lahus claim to be
the majority in two townships, which are separate from each other.
The National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA)
meanwhile calls for the establishment of an Akha SAZ. But they are facing two
problems: one, Akha are not the majority in its area, and, two, it holds almost
complete sway over one township (Mongla), but only part of each of two
adjoining townships.
According to one
government source, Naypyitaw negotiators are willing to make an exception for
the NDAA, as Mongla is part of the projected Asian Highway.
The day concludes with
a closing remark by the day’s chair, Padoh Kwe Htoo Win of KNU. He quotes the
NCA’s Chapter One which pledges to “establish a union based on the principles
of democracy and federalism in accordance with the outcomes of political
dialogue and the spirit of Panglong, that fully guarantees democratic rights,
national equality and the right to self-determination of the basis of liberty,
equality and justice while upholding the principles of non-disintegration of
the union, non-disintegration of national solidarity and perpetuation of
national sovereignty.”
Listening to him, a thought,
unthought, comes to my mind, “Gosh! He must have learned it by rote.”
The remark of the day
is made by a non-Shan:
It looks like all the
55 townships of Shan State will be gone if the government agrees to it. There
will nothing left for the Shans, let alone us. Maybe we should plan on
demanding our own land in the Burman regions or other states.
Almost forgot to tell you.
Today the RCSS speaker Lt-Col Sai Ngeun drops a nuclear bombshell by accusing
the conference of not adhering to the equal status principle. What he says
isn’t in the written text and takes a lot of courage to point out the issue in
question: the omission of military ranks for the EAO speakers, when their names
are read out. “That is not equal. If there is no equality even in such a small
matter, how can we expect equality in federalism?” he asks.
(The result is that the ranks of the EAO speakers on
the remaining days are “reinstated” by the conference. And as to be expected,
the cocky little colonel, who’s a native of Mongpulong, Mongpiang township,
becomes a hero among EAOs overnight.)
Tags: Opinion
