12 June
The Ethnic Armed Organizations—Signatories of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement organized a press conference yesterday afternoon on their preparations for the 4th round of Union Peace Conference—21st Century Panglong.
The NCA Implementation Framework Coordinator U Myo Win said, “We are working for the fourth edition of Union Peace Conference—21st Century Panglong before the 2020 General Election. It is expected to sign the part 3 of Union Accord in the coming session. We have reached some agreements in the previous 8th the Joint Implementing Coordination Meeting (JICM) how to finalize this part.”
The 8th JICM held in Nay Pyi Taw on 8 January this year decided to sign the part 3 of Union Accord in three portions.
The first portion will include agreement on NCA implementation, the second one is to carry out phase by phase implementations on peace-making works beyond 2020 and the third portion is to adopt basic principles for the future Democratic Federal Union.
Myanmar has expected to hold the fourth session of the Union Peace Conference in the first four months this year, but the plan was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The government and the NCA-S EAOs have also scheduled to hold working meetings on 23, 24 and 25 June for the fourth edition of Union Peace Conference.
U Myo Win remarked that they could organize political dialogues with the smaller number of participants due to unfavourable conditions.
Although the government proposed to hold the fourth 21st Century Panglong in July, the NCA-S EAOs will suggest to postpone it to August, said the coordinator. They are also preparing for reduction of participants in the conference with proper proportion from the stakeholders. Myanmar organized the first session of Union Peace Conference from 31 August to 4 September in 2016, the second one from 24 to 28 May in 2017 and the third from 11 to 16 July in 2018.
Ye Gaung Nyunt (Translated by Aung Khin)
