Naypyitaw Urges Wa to Sign NCA

Naypyitaw Urges Wa to Sign NCA
by -
S.H.A.N

The government negotiator U Aung Min urged representatives from the United Wa State Party/Army (UWSP/UWSA) to sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) at a meeting he held with them on 8 August, according to government sources.

aung myintThe meeting between U Aung Min and the Wa delegation led by U Aung Myint aka Li Zhulie was held in Rangoon after U Aung Min and government representatives had met with the ethnic organisations' Senior Delegation (SD) and finalised the NCA draft at the ninth NCA meeting on 6 to 7 August.

At the meeting with the UWSP/UWSA U Aung Min reiterated the 4 guarantees that came with the NCA. These are:

  • The right to bear arms throughout the peace negotiations
  • The right to participate in the political dialogue
  • Immunity from the notorious Unlawful Associations Act, better known as Section 17/1
  • Federal democracy

The UWSP/UWSA has so far maintained that it would not sign the NCA but would participate in the political dialogue. Since 1989 it has had its own bilateral ceasefire with the Burmese government.

Also according to Amsterdam based Transnational Institute (TNI), the Wa leaders are unhappy about the draft negotiated by the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), the SD’s forerunner.

It quoted Shan leader Lt-Gen Hso Ten as saying: “The Wa are not satisfied with the NCCT, and think its approach is too soft, and feel it is too appeasing. The Wa said ‘appeasement is defeatism’, and they want to unite all the armed groups and make them stronger than the NCCT.”

It is not clear whether it is pleased with the latest draft.

The Wa, since 1993, have also been calling for their own separate state, which should include the same areas as outlined in the 2008 constitution as well as the adjacent Mongpawk and Mongphen, which are currently incorporated in Mongyang township.

“If you don’t sign it,” U Aung Min was reported as saying,” two thorny problems that need to be addressed may arise.":

  • One is that the Unlawful Association Act may apply to the UWSP/UWSA
  • And two, you may be allowed to attend the political dialogues, but only as observers, not as participants.”

U Aung Myint said he did not have answers for the government but that he would report back to his superiors before leaving, according to the sources.

The UWSP/UWSA is one of the 15 armed organizations that have signed bilateral ceasefires with Naypyitaw.

According to unconfirmed reports, President Thein Sein recently sent out invitations to all the 15 groups to sign the NCA. No date was proposed, but sources say the government want to do it well before the elections in November.

Edited in English by Mark Inkey for BNI

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