Day Five. Thursday 17 December 2015

Hate cannot drive out hate.

Only love can do that.

(Martin Luther King Jr.)

Today, the UPDJC meets again to discuss the convening of the UPC. Several resolutions are passed without much wrangling.

They include:

• The date for the opening of the UPC, which is expected to last 7-9 days, will be 11,12 or 14 of January (the 14^th is considered astrologically inauspicious)
• The non-signatories will be invited as “special invitees,” and not as “observers”
• 3 secretaries each from the 5 blocs will be chosen for the preparation of the UPC. They will be meet on 5-7 January
• UPDJC #4 will be held right after, 8-9 January

The meeting adjourns at 11:30. Just before the conclusion, U Aung Min announces that Arakan Army (AA) and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) will definitely NOT on the invitees list. (On 22 December, the Ta-ang National Liberation Army was also added to the non-invitees list)

After lunch, the participants say good bye to each other and leave, many of them to the airport.

8 of the EAO representatives are then whisked off to meet The Lady. At 14:30, the delegation reports back to the EAOs.

According to them, they had a one-hour audience with her.

• She considers the approved Framework for Political Dialogue (FPD) acceptable. “She appreciates because it make it easier for the new government to accommodate changes” (Padoh Kwe Htoo Win). “It looks like she’s going to recommend changes for sure,” says one. “No news for me. The FPD will require some changes by then,” says another. “It isn’t meant to be a rigid charter in the first place.”
• She also explains why she didn’t sign the NCA. Not because she disagrees with it, but because she doesn’t want to cause misunderstandings among the signatories and the non-signatories by her signing.
• She urges the delegation to try to bring around the non-signatories to the signing table, as she will not be in a position to meet them until the power transfer is completed.

“Her immediate concern is the handover of power to her by the present government,” one member of the delegation says. “She wants nothing to be in the way of a smooth transfer. That’s why she had agreed to the 5-bloc configuration, and that’s why she had agreed to the government and parliament blocs being outnumbered by others.

“That is also why she isn’t in a hurry to meet the non-signatories. As far as she’s concerned, they  ̶  as they are yet to sign the NCA, and their unlawful status yet to be removed  ̶  are still illegal organizations. It is more than likely she isn’t eager to have a confrontation with the military as well as the outgoing government.”

His comments appear to match what was reported in the Mizzima News a day earlier.

The report starts with an encouraging headline, “NLD will meet with non-signatories after formation of government.” But the tone alters when U Win Htein, an NLD top-leader, is quoted. “We shall forge understanding with the non-signatories after they have signed (the NCA). It will be followed by launching political dialogue with them. “He didn’t say how soon the NLD government would be able to meet them.

Resolutions of the EAO meeting include allotment of representatives attending the UPC next month:

• 19 representatives for each
• 2 ethnic representatives for each (RCSS, for example, later nominates one Taungyo and one Khamti, as neither is represented in other blocs)
• 2 “other relevant” for each

The invited non-signatories in the meantime are allotted 3-5 each (for combatant EAOs) and 3 each (for non-combatant EAOS, namely, ANC, WNO and LDU). They will also have the right to present their cases. Whether or not their demands will become dialogue topics, on the other hand, is up to the Conference.

It seems the non-signatories’ big chance is not waiting for The Lady to hold out her olive branch but to attend the UPC.

Two days later, I’m back in Changmai.

Note: The President announced on 18 December that the UPC will be opened on 12 January 2016.