Myanmar government, military hold ceasefire meeting with ethnic armed groups

A fiveday political dialogue between ethnic minority armies, political parties and the Myanmar government and military kicked off Tuesday in the state capital Naypidaw, despite the absence of at least two rebel groups which remain embroiled in conflict with the Myanmar armed forces.

The first day of the Union Peace Conference was attended by hundreds of representatives from the state military, government, political parties and ethnic minority armed groups, including National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung Sung Suu Kyi, President Thein Sein and Army Chief Senior General Ming Aung Hlaing.

But notably absent from the the event, which runs until Saturday, were the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) from the eastern Kokang region of Myanmar, and the Arakan Army from western Rakhine State, according to local Burmese newspaper Eleven Myanmar.

Neither army is party to the controversial Nationwide Ceasefire Accord which was signed in October 2015 by only eight of the country’s 20plus armed groups and remains a source of contention for groups excluded from many of the talks in the peace process ongoing since August 2011.

“Five days of political dialogue can’t solve any problems. The government should engage in dialogue with everyone,” U Aye Ther Aung, a senior member of the Arakan National Party, said Monday, as cited by the Myanmar Times newspaper.

Though 11 nonsignatories to the ceasefire deal have been invited to the conference, they only have observer status, and are barred from participating in the dialogue that aims to ultimately bring an end to insurgencies that have dominated Myanmar’s political landscape for the past six decades.

Nevertheless, the event marks the first time such a large number of political factions have gathered since the country’s independence from British colonial rule in 1948, according to President U Thein Sein.

“Today we will write history together,” Thein Sein announced in the opening ceremony held in the state capital.