RSS Feed
October 15th, 2015 
Awake Goy 
Christof Lehmann (nsnbc) : The government of Myanmar and seven armed groups have signed a ceasefire agreement before national and international witnesses. Among the signatories are the Karen National Union and the Restoration Council of Shan State. President U Thein Sein, who previously stressed that the government would not consider those who would not sign as being against peace said at the signing ceremony that more ethnic groups will join the nationwide ceasefire.
Photo courtesy of Xinhua News Agency.
The signing ceremony took place on Thursday, October 15, 2015, after almost two years of negotiations.
President U Thein Sein had previously stressed that he considered a ceasefire agreement as a key goal of his administration.
The President particularly stressed his wish to reach a ceasefire agreement before the next elections. Elections in Myanmar are scheduled for November 8.
The signing ceremony took place in the presence of international and domestic witnesses as well as foreign diplomats and representatives of political parties. President U Thein Sein commented on the fact that not all of the ethnic militia signed the agreement, saying that:
“How many sign is not important. How we implement the negotiated terms is more important. If we can implement it, the other groups will sign too.”
Ten armed groups have opted out, among them are the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO). Geographically, the nationwide ceasefire agreement mainly includes ethnic militia from northern regions bordering China while most of those who have not yet signed are from regions bordering Thailand.
One of the signatories, the Karen National Union (KNU), has urged the Tatmadaw not to use force in the attempt to bring those armed groups that had opted out from signing the nationwide ceasefire to the negotiating table.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, KNU chief Saw Mutu Say Poe said that a military solution could not bring about peace. He added:
“We would like to request that the military use dialog rather than force to contain those groups who are not signing the nationwide ceasefire agreement. … We need to find other ways to achieve a nationwide peace.”
The KNU chief also recognized that there would be may challenges ahead with regard to the political dialog phase which is scheduled to begin within 90 days after the signing of the ceasefire agreement. Mutu Say Poe said:
“We will definitely face diverse opinions during the dialogue. If we focus on national reconciliation rather than our own interests, we will be able to continue to move the peace process forward.”
The armed conflict between ethnic groups in Myanmar as well as many aspects of the problems with ethnic Rohingya in Myanmar are widely considered as a product of colonialism and neo-colonialism and the fact that some of Myanmar’s regions, like Rakhine State, belong to the most resource-rich regions in the larger Mekong region.
The conflict in Myanmar has quite literally, been fueled by national and international rivalry about resources as much as it has been fueled by the products of colonialism as well a divergence in energy-security interests and geopolitical factors, involving Myanmar’s neighbors China, Bangladesh, India as well as international powers, including the USA and UK, among others.
CH/L – nsnbc 15.10.2015
Related article:
Myanmar, Gas and the Soros-Funded Explosion of A Nation State.
Source Article from http://nsnbc.me/2015/10/15/myanmar-government-and-ethnic-militia-sign-ceasefire-deal/
Posted in 
Tags: 
