The meeting took place at Thumaydar Yama Kyartawya Monastery in Hpa-an, Karen State on the evening of 4 September.

Pado Saw Hla Tun, the head of the KNU Information Department talked about the paper by three Karen ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) on the topic of reforms in Burma that they presented to the Union Peace Conference.

He said: “The paper we submitted was based on the outcomes of the Karen National Conference. We will move towards national-level political dialogue based on this paper. A total of 62 papers were recorded at this conference and political dialogue will be based on these papers.”

He said that some ethnic representatives had been worried that the conference would be like the discredited, long-running military organised Nyaung Hna Pin National Conference but, according to Pado Saw Hla Tun, this was not the case with the Union Peace Conference, which ran smoothly except for some weaknesses in the conference’s organisation.

He said: “Overall, the conference ran smoothly but we need to wait and see what Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will do with this issue. Many steps need to be carried out in order to include the voices and desires of everyone.”

Saw KyawMoe, a local youth, said to KIC News: “After attending the [KNU organised] meeting I [now] understand that the EAOs submitted a paper to the 21st Century Panglong Conference. I believe that [the paper] didn’t represent all the people living in the state. If possible I want [the paper] to represent everyone.”

The KNU told those attending the meeting that various types of meetings would need to be held to find out all the needs of the people in Karen State and it asked Karen State residents to support the outcomes of the Karen National Conference when they are submitted to the national-level political dialogue.

After the meeting the KNU representatives met the prominent monk Sayadaw Taung Ka Lay and other religious leaders.

Reporting by Saw Nyunt Thaung for KIC News
Translated by Thida Linn
Edited in English by Mark Inkey for BNI