The Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC) secretaries have agreed on June 24 to convene the third session of the Union Peace Conference, also known as the 21st Century Panglong Conference, on July 11.
The decision was set down during the 21st meeting of the UPDJC secretaries.
“We have set down the dates for the conference in order to submit it to the UPDJC. The secretary group has negotiated to hold the conference on July 11,” said Min Zeyar Oo, member of the UPDJC secretary group.
The UPDJC secretary group will submit the proposed date to the UPDJC meeting and obtain the confirmation on June 29.
“We had a heated discussion on how to discuss and what should be discussed in the security sector during the conference,” Min Zeyar Oo continued.
All ethnic armed organizations will be invited to the conference but negotiations will be made with the government and the Tatmadaw on the issue of inviting the Ta’ang National Liberation (TNLA), the Arakan Army (AA), and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), which are members of the Northern Alliance.
“Some [issues] will be discussed with the work committee regarding the security [sector]. The discussion will be based on the points that have been agreed between the EAOs (ethnic armed organizations) and the Tatmadaw during the informal talk,” U Zaw Htay, director general of the President’s Office, told reporters.
Non-secession, equality, and self-determination issues will not be discussed in the upcoming session of the conference.
Fifteen decisions have been set down during the UPDJC secretary meeting and work committee meetings will be held at the MICC 2 building in Naypyidaw from June 26 to 28 and decisions obtained from the meeting will be submitted to the UPDJC meeting.
