To Hopeland and Back: The bare bones for peace talks – Day Five
Day Five.
Thursday 17 December 2015
Hate
cannot drive out hate.
Only love
can do that.
(Martin
Luther King Jr.)
Today, the
UPDJC meets again to discuss the convening of the UPC. Several resolutions are
passed without much wrangling.
 |
| 8EAO representatives with NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi, 17 December 2015. (Photo:CDES) |
They include:
·
The date for the opening of the
UPC, which is expected to last 7-9 days, will be 11,12 or 14 of January (the 14th
is considered astrologically inauspicious)
·
The non-signatories will be
invited as “special invitees,” and not as “observers”
·
3 secretaries each from the 5
blocs will be chosen for the preparation of the UPC. They will be meet on 5-7
January
·
UPDJC #4 will be held right
after, 8-9 January
The meeting
adjourns at 11:30. Just before the conclusion, U Aung Min announces that Arakan
Army (AA) and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) will definitely
NOT on the invitees list. (On 22 December, the Ta-ang National Liberation Army
was also added to the non-invitees list)
After lunch,
the participants say good bye to each other and leave, many of them to the
airport.
8 of the EAO
representatives are then whisked off to meet The Lady. At 14:30, the delegation
reports back to the EAOs.
According to
them, they had a one-hour audience with her.
·
She considers the approved
Framework for Political Dialogue (FPD) acceptable. “She appreciates because it
make it easier for the new government to accommodate changes” (Padoh Kwe Htoo
Win). “It looks like she’s going to recommend changes for sure,” says one. “No
news for me. The FPD will require some changes by then,” says another. “It
isn’t meant to be a rigid charter in the first place.”
·
She also explains why she
didn’t sign the NCA. Not because she disagrees with it, but because she doesn’t
want to cause misunderstandings among the signatories and the non-signatories by
her signing.
·
She urges the delegation to try
to bring around the non-signatories to the signing table, as she will not be in
a position to meet them until the power transfer is completed.
“Her
immediate concern is the handover of power to her by the present government,”
one member of the delegation says. “She wants nothing to be in the way of a
smooth transfer. That’s why she had agreed to the 5-bloc configuration, and
that’s why she had agreed to the government and parliament blocs being
outnumbered by others.
“That is also
why she isn’t in a hurry to meet the non-signatories. As far as she’s
concerned, they ̶ as they are yet to sign the NCA, and their
unlawful status yet to be removed ̶
are still illegal organizations. It is more than likely she isn’t eager
to have a confrontation with the military as well as the outgoing government.”
His comments
appear to match what was reported in the Mizzima News a day earlier.
The report
starts with an encouraging headline, “NLD will meet with non-signatories after
formation of government.” But the tone alters when U Win Htein, an NLD
top-leader, is quoted. “We shall forge understanding with the non-signatories
after they have signed (the NCA). It will be followed by launching political
dialogue with them. “He didn’t say how soon the NLD government would be able to
meet them.
Resolutions
of the EAO meeting include allotment of representatives attending the UPC next
month:
·
19 representatives for each
·
2 ethnic representatives for
each (RCSS, for example, later nominates one Taungyo and one Khamti, as neither
is represented in other blocs)
·
2 “other relevant” for each
The invited
non-signatories in the meantime are allotted 3-5 each (for combatant EAOs) and
3 each (for non-combatant EAOS, namely, ANC, WNO and LDU). They will also have
the right to present their cases. Whether or not their demands will become
dialogue topics, on the other hand, is up to the Conference.
It seems the
non-signatories’ big chance is not waiting for The Lady to hold out her olive
branch but to attend the UPC.
Two days
later, I’m back in Changmai.
Note: The President announced on 18 December that the UPC will be opened
on 12 January 2016.
Tags: Opinion
