RCSS: Discussions With NRPC, Military to Continue
Govt representatives express hope of ‘re-starting the peace process.’
By NETWORK MEDIA GROUP (NMG)
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Representatives from the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) said on Monday the group would continue to meet with the Burmese government’s peace task force and the military leaders in Naypyidaw.
The assertion followed a two-hour informal meeting—also on Monday—with members of the government’s Peace Commission in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
“The result of today’s meeting is that the RCSS and the NRPC [National Reconciliation and Peace Center] will meet in Naypyidaw soon, as well as hold a separate meeting with leaders from the Burma Army,” RCSS spokesperson Col Sai Nguen told NMG. “We will discuss the issues that are deadlocked, such as military affairs, bilateral agreements, etc.”
Col Sai Nguen said that “in general, we got good results” from Monday’s meeting and described it as a “positive approach.”
“We discussed frankly how to cooperate and how to seek ways to move the peace process forward,” he added.
President’s Office spokesperson U Zaw Htay, who was a member of the Peace Commission’s delegation at the meeting, also described the meeting as productive.
“Both sides are trying to seek a good way to ease the worrying and difficulties on both sides. After that, we will try to re-start the peace process,” he said.
Also representing the Peace Commission at the meeting were retired Lt-Gen Khin Zaw Oo, U Aung Soe, U Hla Maung Shwe and U Kyaw Lin Oo. The RCSS delegation was headed by Maj Bawng Khur, and included Col Sai Nguen, Sai Liang, and Maj Sing Sheng Mai.
After a Naypyidaw summit last October, the RCSS declared it would stop its participation in the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement’s (NCA) Joint Monitoring Committee. The peace process has since been in a stalemate. The Karen National Union, also an NCA signatory also temporarily ended its participation in peace meetings.
The first informal meeting between the RCSS and the Peace Commission was on November 16 of last year, also in Chiang Mai.
