Twante Thein Tan, the late Burmese singer of Shan descent, had sung:

I’d engage in a hundred hot wars
But never one amorous war again

Well, we know well he has never fought one peace process. Had he, he would have realized that a love affair is nothing to a peace affair. Any active member of the NCCT ( Nationwide Ceasefire Negotiation Team set up by the armed resistance movements) or the UPWC (Union Peacemaking Work Committee set up by Naypyitaw) could have told him.

I think I know what I’m talking about. Because I have been granted the rare honor of observing several rounds of negotiations, both formal and informal, between the two sides since November 2011.

Representing not just one group but 16 plus a number of associate partners, the NCCT in particular has had its hands full. In spite of this, there’s no denying it has been doing a good job. Which may not be satisfying to some leaders, but I doubt they could have done better if they were given the job. What is more surprising is the fact that they have accomplished the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) draft mainly through the work-and-learn process, without any proper training except how to fight.

The following lessons are, I believe, what the NCCT and the UPWC have given us through their bitter-cum-sweet experience:
• To place focus on interests, not positions, and on substance not words
• To cooperate, not just compete against each other
• To bargain, not just argue
• To listen, not just telling
• To know each other better so you can increase the area of opportunity in negotiating
• To give face to the other side, not just pocketing all the credit
• To claim joint ownership of the results, not just taking all the glory for yourself
• To balance between doing the right thing and getting the job done

In more than 18 months of negotiation, the two sides have become more than opponents. They have also become partners. (Those who see it the other way will of course say that the NCCT has been soundly outsmarted by the UPWC.)

We should therefore consider it a great loss to the peace process as well as the cause of the struggle for a place in the sun by the non- Burmans, if the Second Law Khee Lar conference — or similar conferences –would decide to make a complete reshuffle of their negotiating team, except for a few members for whom doing things other than negotiating is what they have been made for.

But newcomers must be trained, or else they are apt to repeat the same mistakes and unnecessarily prolong the process.

The new ideal team should be a combination of trained newcomers and experienced old hands. Assistance from experts in the art( and science) of negotiation, in this light, should be most welcomed.