My last journal ended with the formation of the enlarged Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC) with the inclusion of the political parties and its decision to draft the framework for political dialogue (FPD) before 15 December.
This journal begins with my return to Burma to attend the Joint Implementation Coordination Meeting (JICM) that served as the supreme arbiter and mediator to the UPDJC as well as its twin body, the Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Committee (JMC).
Day One: Sunday, December 13, 2015
The bee gathers nectar from the flower
Without marring its beauty or perfume
Even so should the sage settle and wander
The Dhammapada
Predictably, the plane that I take to the old capital is Bangkok Airways. Equally predictable is the hotel where I put up for the night on my way to Naypyidaw: Green Hill. I don’t feel well because yesterday I was treated to two consecutive meals of highly delicious sticky rice. So I spend the day reading the minutes and the draft Framework for Political Dialogue (FPD) jointly drawn up by 24 representatives from the government, eight EAOs (Ethnic Armed Organizations) and the political parties.
The three basic principles for the drafters as laid down by the UPDJC were that the draft must:
- Be flexible, to make it easier for the new government and the new legislature that may want to make changes to it
- Consult FPD drafts previously drawn up and compiled by several organizations, including the NLD
- Be derived from the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) which was signed in October
The three camps, however, were divided on the composition of the Union Peace Conference which is planned for mid-January.
- The military’s proposal: 100 participants each from the government, legislature, military (Tatmadaw), EAOs, and political parties; and 25 each from other ethnicities category and other relevant representatives (meaning academics and such)
- The political parties’ motion: equal number of representatives from government-legislature-Tatmadaw, EAOs, and political parties
- The eight EAOs meanwhile are sticking to the NCA’s paragraph 22 (a): Representatives from the government, Hluttaws (legislatures) and the Tatmadaw; representatives from registered political parties; (other) ethnic representatives; and other relevant representatives
According to the minutes, U Aung Min, the government’s chief representative, had earlier proposed that the UPC be made up of 150 representatives each from the three camps.
“With the NLD winning the polls, the political landscape has changed,” one insider told me. “Until now, the government, legislature and the Tatmadaw are one and the same. But with the inevitability of the NLD taking over the executive and the legislative branches in the next few months, the Tatmadaw does not feel at ease being attached to it.”
During the evening, there comes a message from Naypyitaw, where the UPDJC will be meeting tomorrow: The NLD has agreed with the EAOs’ proposition.
The obvious question therefore is: how will the military react to it?
With this thought, I treat myself to a quiet reading of Shan Folk Tales, compiled and translated by Pu Loi Hom and Pu Loi Tun, before calling it a day.
By SAI KHUENSAI / Director of Pyidaungsu Institute and Founder of Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N)
All views expressed are the author’s own.
