The New Mon State Party (NMSP) has said that its lack of representation in the state-level ceasefire Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC-S) in Karen State has delayed the resolution of conflict in the region.

NMSP central committee member Nai Aung Ma Ngae said that these challenges were particularly apparent after the Burma Army and its Border Guard Force seized an NMSP camp in the village of Japan Yaytwin, located in the Three Pagodas Pass area on the Thai-Burma border late last November.

“We still have difficulties because we are still not included in the JMC-S,” Nai Aung Ma-Ngae said.“For instance, we cannot directly talk with [the JMC]. We could not immediately talk with them [when we needed to]. That’s why problems mounted.”

The NMSP leader added that direct negotiations are the most efficient method of resolving such issues.

The NMSP is signatory to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) with the Burmese government and military. The government has allowed the NMSP to join the JMC-S Mon State but not in Karen State or Tanintharyi Region, despite the group’s requests to do so. An updated agreement has not been reached on the issue.

When asked why they opted to sign the NCA, NMSP representatives have repeatedly said that it is “to solve political problems through political means,” but point out that political problems persist and continue to arise.