To Hopeland and Back: The 22nd trip
The following journal is about what had taken place
during my last trip to attend the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) signing
anniversary which was held in Naypyitaw on 15 October 2016.
As the Shan saying goes, “Salt never rots and
knowledge is never in excess,” I’m sure the reader will benefit from the
reading, some if not much. In either case, the reader won’t have to spend so
much time going through it, because I have never been known to be long winded.
I would never know how to.
Day One. Monday, 10 October 2016
Sharing a meal makes it delicious
Sharing a burden makes it light
108 Dehong Tai Proverbs
Tai Studies Institute (1994)
This 22nd trip of mine to Hopeland is
quite different from others: when the long practiced formula is just to
observe, report and advise. But this time I’ve been asked to help coordinate
the arrangements for the upcoming Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) signing
anniversary. As the Coordinator of the Peace Process Steering Team (PPST) was
away in South Africa and asked me to assist. And to my eternal regret, I had
accepted. Because if something goes wrong, I’ll be held responsible, partly if
not totally.
Being unburdened for so long, I must admit I don’t
like it at all. I might even be getting real old (as if I weren’t already)
doing this sort of thing.
There’s one thing good about it though: I’m learning
to appreciate the troubles the active participants are going through, and not to
attach too much blame on them for some of the occasional slipups.
 |
State Counselor
announcing the MPC,
a semi-government organization,
will be transformed as
NRPC,
a full government organization,
15 May 2016. (Photo: MNA)
|
To my relief, Hkun Okker, the PPST Coordinator got
back last night and is now accompanying me (or rather it’s the other way round)
to Mingladon.
We arrive there at 12:30 but it takes us another hour negotiating
through Rangoon’s notoriously heavy traffic to reach the National Reconciliation
and Peace Center (NRPC), formerly the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC) on Shweli
Street. The meeting, scheduled for 13:00, has accordingly moved to 14:00,
thanks to the NRPC officials.
Dr Tin Myo Win, the State Counselor’s chief negotiator
and Vice Chairperson #2, NRPC , opens the meeting saying, “Now NCA is known
even by children. Hearing my 2nd grade niece using it, I asked her
what it meant. And she said, ‘It means we don’t shoot at each other anymore.’”
The long and short of the 2 ½ hour meeting is as
follows:
·
The invitation will be issued by the State Counselor, who is also the
chairperson of the NRPC
·
EAOs, both signatories and non; former government leaders including
President Thein Sein, and witnesses, both domestic and international, will be
invited
·
The ceremony on 15 October will be held between 09:00-12:00. The
government will meet the non-signatory Delegation for Political Negotiations
(DPN) in the afternoon.
·
The venue will be Myanmar International Convention Center I (MICC Ⅰ), and not at MICC Ⅱ,
as there will be only about 400 invitees
So far
so good. But, as meetings go, there are some glitches too. Notably on the
question of the approval of the Terms of Reference (ToR) for National level
Political Dialogue (NPD) to be completed by the tripartite Union Peace and
Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC) before the end of the month.
The
PPST meeting on 7 October (3 days earlier) in Chiangmai thought that any
agreement reached on the ToR should only be provisional until further approval
by PPST (and later the Joint Implementation Coordination Meeting).
This
message by EAO representatives at once draws a stream of protest by some
government representatives:
·
Does it mean the PPST is above the UPDJC? (No, it’s only above the
EAOs’ UPDJC bloc)
·
Both the government and the military have already granted mandate to
their UPDJC representatives to decide on the NPD on their own judgment. Why
can’t the EAOs do the same? (For one thing, while the government and the
military have only two bosses — the State Counselor and the
Commander in Chief, EAOs have 9 — their own
and the PPST. Knowing its own sluggishness, it is still looking for a speedier
mechanism.)
·
It seems the signatories are dragging their heels like their non
signatory counterparts (No, but EAOs need a little extra time to see to it that
their negotiators and policymakers share same understanding)
The meeting, all in all, is a success, after a
fashion (the new word I’ve just learned. I guess the resultant peace may also
turn out that way.)
I have a pleasant get-together with some old friends
in the evening. Naturally our conversation touches upon the current peace
process. But nothing serious is discussed. At least I can’t remember anything
of substance to write in my diary when I get back to the hotel.
Tags: Mailbox
