Shan State regional dialogue criticized as hasty and unprepared
Several delegates have criticized the Shan State
regional-level dialogue as a hastily arranged and unprepared event.
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| Photo SHAN- over 400 representatives from political parties, the government, the Burmese armed forces, civil society, and ceasefire signatory groups attended the Shan State regional dialogue between April 23-25, 2017. |
Some 400 representatives from political parties, the
government, the Burmese armed forces, civil society, and ceasefire signatory
groups are attending the talks, which kicked off in state capital Taunggyi
yesterday. Ethnic armed groups that have not signed the Nationwide Ceasefire
Agreement (NCA) were not invited to the conference.
The regional-level dialogue is a pre-runner to
Union-level dialogue, unofficially dubbed the “21st Century Panglong
Conference,” which is slated to be held sometime in May. The Taunggyi
conference was held up as an opportunity for stakeholders in Shan State to
share and recommend opinions in order to form a consensus ahead of the Union
peace talks.
According to Dr Myo Htun, the regional minister of
social affairs, the Office of the State Counsellor on April 19 authorized the
Taunggyi meeting, after which logistics were rushed in order to hold the forum
in time.
“We set up a conference committee and tried to do
the best we could with such limited time to prepare,” he said. “We wanted to
make sure everyone was involved, but some may have been left out. Please understand;
this was purely down to the time restriction.”
Nang Mya Oo, the secretary of the Taunggyi branch of
the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), said that they could not
submit a paper to the committee because they did not have enough time to
prepare.
“We were not able to submit our paper this time
because they only asked us two days before the event,” she said. “However, we
will present it [when we can].”
Yan Kyaw, a leading committee member of the Wa Self-Administered Division, echoed the sentiment that
there was not enough time to prepare statements and paperwork.
“We had to discuss, prepare, write and
submit our paper the night before we left to travel to the meeting,’ he said.
“I’m not satisfied with this
conference,” he added. “They need to give us at least five days or one week to
prepare. This regional-level meeting is very important. In the future, I hope
they inform everyone well ahead of time.”
Khun Myint Htun, the chairman of
the Pa-O National Liberation Organization (PNLO), which was invited to Taunggyi’s
conference, said, “As this event is led by the Shan State government, it stands
to reason that every armed group in the state should be invited to participate
as observers.”
Reached for comment by Shan
Herald, Lt-Col Sai Oo of the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State
Army (RCSS/SSA), a signatory to the NCA, but which was blocked from convening a conference in February, said that dialogue should proceed step by step.
“This event is organized by the
government, and it is good to have this meeting,” he said. “However it is very
urgent, and it should be organized to proceed on a step-by-step basis.”
According to Shan State Chief Minister Dr. Linn
Htut, to date some 70 papers have been submitted to the conference, including 26
related to political issues, 23 papers related to economy, and 21 involving land
and resources issues.
The conference is scheduled to be held in the state
capital from April 23 to 25.
By Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN)
Tags: News, Politics
