The latest iteration of the “21st Century Panglong Conference” concluded on Monday with participants signing 14 points of agreement as the high-level peace confab came to a close in the capital Naypyidaw.
Negotiators gathered on Wednesday to kick off Burma’s latest round of high-level peace talks, ostensibly furthering a process that has bogged down amid ongoing conflict in the country’s border regions.
The Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee releases a statement reiterating the ethnic armed coalition’s intention to join the upcoming third iteration of the government-led 21st Century Panglong Conference, if the bloc is officially invited to do so.
Plans to hold the next iteration of the government’s self-styled “21st Century Panglong Conference” have been pushed back. Instead of convening late this month, the third round of the high-level summit will not take place until February.
Analysis Ethnic issues Lead Story Opinion Peace Process
The second session of the 21st Century Panglong Conference made substantial progress that offers a beacon of hope for sustainable peace in Burma, but key hurdles remain.
Women’s advocates said the second round of 21st Century Panglong Conference talks was much like the first – their voices were sidelined and undervalued.
Peace in Burma “is starting to take tangible form for the first time,” Aung San Suu Kyi said in upbeat closing remarks at the second iteration of the 21st Century Panglong Conference.
State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi opened a second round of peace talks under her government here in the capital on Wednesday, predicting that the coming days would bring “intense discussions, exchanges of views, debates and difficult decisions.”
State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi will open a new round of talks with some of Burma’s myriad ethnic groups on Wednesday, looking to revive a stuttering peace process.
International Relations Lead Story News Peace Process
State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi met UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday and invited him to attend the 21st Century Panglong Conference next week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced.
Ethnic issues Lead Story News Peace Process
The Arakan National Party says its decision on whether or not to participate in the 21st Century Panglong Conference’s second round will be made after weighing the outcomes of a meeting of the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee this week.
The government on Monday set a 24 May date for the convening of the second iteration of the 21st Century Panglong Conference, the current administration’s signature peace dialogue.
Conflict Ethnic issues Lead Story News Peace Process
The second iteration of the 21st Century Panglong Conference is due to convene on 28 February, it was announced on Monday at a meeting of the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC).
Analysis Ethnic issues Lead Story News Opinion Peace Process
The Panglong Conference must be as inclusive as possible if it is to succeed in remaking Burma, says UN special rapporteur on human rights Yanghee Lee.
Ethnic issues Lead Story News Peace Process
“There will be 75 representatives from the government; 75 from parliament; 150 representatives each from the Tatmadaw [Burmese military], ethnic armed groups and political parties; 50 ethnic representatives; and 50 other invitees.”
Ta’ang community leaders argue that the Ta’ang need their own state if they are to enjoy equal status in a future federal Burma.
Lead Story News Peace Process Politics Suu Kyi
Meanwhile, the chairman of the opposition USDP, former President Thein Sein, states that his party intends presenting its policies and stance to the Panglong summit.
Ethnic issues Lead Story News Peace Process
In his opening speech at today’s event, KNU Chairman Gen. Mutu Say Poe said that all the ethnic armed groups share one vision – building a federal union that can guarantee genuine peace.
Analysis Contributor Lead Story News Opinion
Burma’s ethnic minorities need to think carefully about how to get the most out of Aung San Suu Kyi’s plans to revive the “Panglong Spirit”.
Ethnic issues Lead Story News Peace Process
Suu Kyi also plans to meet members of other armed groups as she prepares to launch a comprehensive peace process building on last year’s Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement.
“The ethnic leaders delightfully accepted our invitation,” said Khin Zaw Oo, one of the government negotiators tasked with liaising with ethnic armed groups.
If Aung San Suu Kyi wants a “second Panglong conference” to succeed, her government will have to learn from the failures of the first.
Ethnic issues Lead Story News Politics
Some representatives of the Joint Monitoring Committee questioned Aung San Suu Kyi’s urgency and her determination to revive her father’s legacy.
Want to practise English? Or is that “practice” English? what’s the difference? Learn as you read the news on DVB every week. With Burmese translations.
2015 Elections Ethnic issues Lead Story News Politics
NLD leader says her party, if elected, will prioritise establishing a ‘solid’ ceasefire agreement – not one that ‘breaks down a day after’ it is signed.
Commemorations of the 30th anniversary of the 8888 Uprising, which kicked off at the University of Yangon on Monday, are underway in cities and town throughout the country today.
Ethnic issues Lead Story News Peace Process
A faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland will not be allowed to sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement because of the ethnic Naga armed group’s core demand for an independent Naga homeland spanning either side of the Burma-India border, according to government spokesperson Zaw Htay.
The Burmese government is aiming to hold the third round of the Union Peace Conference next month, according to the State Counsellor’s Office.
Ethnic issues Lead Story News Politics
The launch of a Karen rights organisation’s report has been blocked in Chiang Mai, Thailand, after authorities pressured a local university to cancel the event.
Joining a rising chorus of voices objecting to the encroachment of Burma Army troops into territory in Karen State, hundreds of villagers in the state’s Hpapun Township staged a protest on Monday, calling on the military to withdraw its forces.
