The Government’s Peace Commission welcomes KNU’s decision to join the Peace Process Steering Team (PPST), the leading team for the NCA-S EAO (Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement – Signatories, Ethnic Armed Organizations, according to U Hla Maung Shwe, an advisor to the government’s Peace Commission.

“We extend our welcome to KNU for joining with PPST. Also, we understand (that) it is such a good approach as the New Mon State Party (NMSP) and the Lahu Democratic Union (LDU) have been gradually participating in the team discussion(s), and we welcome them,” U Hla Maung Shwe told Mon News Agency.

Due to growing disagreement regarding last year’s NCA implementation between the ten members of NCA-S EAO and the government, the KNU had temporarily suspended their participation in the peace process. Also, the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) had temporarily suspended their participation from the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) discussions. For this reason, the Union Peace Conference-21st Century Panglong was not able to proceed as planned.

U Hla Maung Shwe explained that government representatives had held numerous informal meetings with the RCSS and KNU, the latest discussions took place in Chaing Mai, August 19th and 20th. He noted that at this meeting, “One of the points centered on urging the ethnic group leaders to meet with the leaders from the government and (the) Tatmadaw and (to) resume dialogue between the NCA members.”

According to the PPST’s latest statement released on August 25, a potential discussion between the government and NCA-S EAO members will resume soon.

Nai Aung Mangay, a spokesperson for the New Mon State Party (NMSP) and a member of PPST explained, there are still many details to discuss. This includes a review of the process the Federal Union has established, in order to validate it. “We then will discuss security issues in the context of the Federal Union process. Besides that, we will have further negotiation(s) to resume the NCA implementation. If the government, Tamataw, and Hluttaw agree on these processes, we are ready for moving towards the Union Peace Conference-UPC.”

At the same time, Padoh Saw Ta Doh Moo, General Secretary of the Karen National Union (KNU) expressed they are looking forward to obtaining a ceasefire agreement before 2020, and beyond 2020. KNU will coordinate with a new government to implement the peace process.

During the PPST+2 (4/2019) meeting held in Chiang Mai, Thailand from August 21 to 25, the New Mon State Party (NMSP) and the Lahu Democratic Union (LDU) joined the PPST. This is now a ten member team. In order to advance peace process discussions and incorporate these new members, two new teams have been formed — one is called “The Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement Framework Implementation Coordination Team” and the other is being called “The Ceasefire Sustainable Coordination Team.”