The Myanmar Peace Center (MPC), Thein Sein’s think-tank and PR Office, including government’s organs of Union Peace-making Working Committee (UPWC) and Union Peace-making Central Committee (UPCC) are keen to leave a political legacy of peace process, aside from having to toe the timeline as prescribed by the so-called nationwide ceasefire Agreement (NCA). At least this is the position that Thein Sein Regime is projecting.

But the reality is to control the peace process beyond the end of its regime, when NLD government comes in after March 2016.

All the President’s men in MPC don’t want to be out of job and of course influence also, for by all means it is a lucrative undertaking with millions of dollars international aid involved. It is even dubbed a peace industrial complex.
Thus it is in the interest of many to keep the armed ethnic conflict alive, first to keep the international aid flowing and second, to justify that the Burma army is needed to keep the country together and so must be kept as a leading role in Burma’s politics.

Thein Sein regime’s rejection of all-inclusiveness and hastily holding Union Peace Convention in January is aimed at protecting these privileges. Otherwise, if it is sincere, it will just leave the whole task to the incoming NLD regime, for it would be much easier.

Just imagine, the first Union Peace Convention will start on 12 January 2016, but the tenure of Thein Sein regime will end in March and parliament at the end of January.

Isn’t this a waste of resources and lack of logical thinking, given that there won’t be continuity of government and parliamentarians as the regime change is to occur soon, besides going through all these with just 8 ethnic armed groups, when there are 21 fighting against the regime?

Isn’t this supposed to be nationwide and not partial peace process leading to actual ceasefire on the ground and political settlement?