Saturday 21 / December / 2024
Naypyitaw/Yangon: Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi is launching a major push to end decades of fighting between rebels and the military, with many of the country's myriad armed groups gathering for a peace conference in the capital Naypyitaw.
Suu Kyi has made the peace process a priority for her administration, which faces sky-high expectations at home and abroad after sweeping to power in an election last November to end more than half a century of military-backed rule.
Few concrete proposals are to emerge this week, with delegates expecting to meet every six months to tackle issues ranging from security, political representation and culture to sharing the fruits of the country's mineral riches.
But the fact that Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi has been able to bring the vast majority of the rebels to the negotiating table only five months after taking power is a sign of progress, experts say.
Powerful armed groups from regions bordering China, who refused to sign a ceasefire last October under the previous military-backed government, are now set to take part, partly owing to China's tacit support for the talks, observers say.
As Myanmar's economy opens up, China is vying for influence with the United States. President Xi Jinping pledged his country would play a "constructive role" in the peace process when Suu Kyi visited China this month.
Myanmar has been torn by fighting between the military, which seized power in the 1962 coup, and ethnic armed groups almost without a break since the end of the Second World War, as rebels pushed for recognition of their rights and greater autonomy from the central government.
The meeting, which begins on Wednesday, has been billed as the "21st-Century Panglong Conference", a reference to the agreement between the majority Bamar and ethnic minorities in 1947 that formed the Union of Burma.
It was held by Suu Kyi's father and Myanmar's national hero, General Aung San. "The ambition of 1947 Panglong Conference was to get independence. Today's ambition is domestic peace and unity of the whole country," said 84-year-old veteran journalist Phoe Thauk Kyar, who was 14 at the time of the Panglong Conference.
Casting a shadow over the talks is a recent flare-up in fighting in northernmost Kachin State and clashes in northeastern Shan State, which is home to several large groups operating close to borders with China and Thailand.
The still-powerful military has also strongly opposed talks with three groups - the Arakan Army, Ta'ang National Liberation Army and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army - which fought it in the remote Kokang area last year.
It is unclear whether those groups will play any part in this week's conference, which will be attended by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Both sides say they are willing to talk, but the military has demanded the rebels lay down their arms first. The three groups have refused, citing continuous pressure from the military.
"The government said these three groups would be accepted only if they announce that they will 'give up the policy of armed struggle'," said Thu Wai, 84, the vice-chairman of the steering committee of the conference, without giving details.
He said the groups could be admitted even a day or two into the conference, which is planned to last until the weekend, as long as they issued a statement to that effect. Ethnic delegates have complained about what they saw as an arbitrary schedule set by the government.
Suu Kyi has dictated a faster pace for the talks than her military-linked predecessors. She has not consulted the groups about the date of the conference or the specific agenda, diplomats familiar with the situation said. Reflecting that rushed approach, less than a day before the conference the parties huddled at a Naypyitaw hotel to try to thrash out procedural details.
"We discussed about the agenda for tomorrow and about the opening speech and how to proceed with discussion. Still no result," said Khu Oo Reh, who represents an umbrella organization of some of the most powerful ethnic groups.
