Member groups of the 7 EAO Alliance, made up of seven ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) that signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), met online to discuss plans for jointly celebrating the agreement’s 10th anniversary.
October 15 will mark the 10th anniversary of the signing of the NCA. The ceremony is planned to be jointly organized by the signatory EAOs and the junta (Myanmar military) as a shared initiative. In preparation, the 7 EAO Alliance members held a virtual meeting on August 6 to discuss arrangements for the event.
“We call the idea of jointly organizing the event a ‘joint ownership’. We talked about how we would work together to hold the 10th anniversary celebration. The NCA is a process involving two sides, so the event will be jointly owned by both sides. Our discussion mainly focused on the plans for making that happen,” said Colonel Khun Okkar, chairman of the Pa-O National Liberation Organization (PNLO), a signatory of the NCA.
The online discussion was attended by Lieutenant General Yawd Serk, leader of the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) and current Chairman of the 7 EAO Alliance; Nai Aung Min, leader of the New Mon State Party (NMSP) and Vice Chairman of the alliance; along with representatives from all member organizations.
The meeting discussed the current political and military situation, potential scenarios and prospects, and ultimately reached a consensus aligned with practical developments, the 7 EAO Alliance announced on August 6 following the meeting.
Regarding the upcoming election the junta is preparing to hold, the 7 EAO Alliance has decided to remain neutral.
“What we mean is that we won’t endorse or oppose the election since it doesn’t have much impact on the NCA signatory EAOs. In other words, we’ve agreed to take a neutral stance,” said Colonel Khun Okkar.
Normally, the 7 EAO Alliance holds meetings every three months, but in this case, an additional meeting is planned before October 15.
In 2024, the junta organized the 9th anniversary of the NCA on its own, but the celebration was modest.
Lieutenant General Min Naing, secretary of the junta-controlled National Solidarity and Peacemaking Negotiation Committee (NSPNC), insisted in June that the 10th anniversary of the NCA would be celebrated grandly, as well as a peace forum.
In March 2024, the NCA signatory EAOs restructured and announced the formation of the 7 EAO Alliance, which includes the RCSS/SSA, NMSP, PNLO, Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army – Peace Council (KNU/KNLA-PC), Lahu Democratic Union (LDU), and Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA).
