Myanmar’s outgoing government kicked off a peace assembly Jan. 12 that was missing some key players as representatives from Christian-majority Kachin state and rebels from Shan state are boycotting the five-day event.
The conference was the outgoing government’s latest attempt at peace building, as it prepares to transition power to the National League for Democracy (NLD), which won Nov. 8 elections.
President Thein Sein and Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi spoke during opening ceremonies of the assembly, held in Napyidaw. They were joined by 700 representatives from the government, military, political parties and eight armed groups who signed a cease-fire agreement in October.
Suu Kyi said on Jan 4 that the new government will prioritize peace building in the country.
The Kachin Independence Army, one of Myanmar’s largest ethnic armed groups, is still fighting with military forces following the breakdown of a 17-year cease-fire in 2011. More than 100,000 people were displaced as a result of the clashes and remain in temporary camps in Kachin and Shan states.
Some 100 civil society groups also called for a postponement of the assembly, citing the absence of several factions and continued fighting in Kachin and Shan states.
Dau Kha, spokesman for the Kachin Independence Organization in Myitkyina, Kachin State, said he is not optimistic that the government-led process will result in lasting peace.
“Sporadic fighting is continuing in ethnic areas and seven ethnic groups were left out of the peace process so we don’t expect any tangible results to come from this conference. It is rather as a ‘political show’ to the international community,” Dau Kha told ucanews.com Jan 12.
He also said ethnic groups remain concerned “on how Suu Kyi will deal with the military for ending fighting in the country.”
Yan Myo Thein, a Yangon-based political analyst, said that any peace assembly should include all ethnic armed groups in order to find a solution to ending decades of civil wars.
“The new NLD government needs to analyze the peace process and then lay out a concrete plan, which would be more effective by collaborating with all stakeholders. I hope that Suu Kyi can build trust-building among the military and ethnic armed groups as a Nobel Laureate and the daughter of Myanmar’s independence hero, Gen. Aung San,” Myo Thein told ucanews.com on Jan 12.
This article was originally published by UCAN.
