Friday, November 17, 2017

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Aung Cheimt Brokers No Compromise in His Art

Posted: 17 Nov 2017 08:07 AM PST

Aung Cheimt (b. 1948) is acknowledged as the greatest living poet in Myanmar today. Along with Thukhamein Hlaing, and several others, he was at the vanguard of modern poetry in Myanmar, moving it from its traditional fixed rhyme to something much more free. This freedom is palpable in Aung Cheimt. He is the ultimate artistic free spirit, who brokers no compromise in his art, to which everything else must be subservient. He is the Marlon Brando and James Dean of Burmese poetry – though the comparisons are inaccurate because his aesthetic rebellion is always a moral one too: his fierce poetry brokers no compromise with either dishonesty or cowardice. He is the poet that all poets in Myanmar would like to emulate. And if you'd met him, you'd immediately understand why.

How did you begin to write poetry?

I was arrested and held for fifteen months, three of which were in solitary confinement. It was during this solitary confinement that I started to compose poems just in my mind. This is what helped me survive. Writing poetry was a way of distracting the mind; a way to keep sane.

We wrote with whatever we could get our hands on, and then memorized the poem. We'd get a nail and scratch on the sleeping mat. Sometimes the etchings were so faint that you could only see when the light hit it. Or pick small pieces of lime mortar stuck between the bricks and use that to write a poem on the floor. That's how I began to write.

When I was released, I would lock myself up in a room full of books and writing materials.

Now it's a habit. I have never stopped writing since, though these days are long passed.

Your activism landed you in jail for a year and a half when you were only sixteen.

When your roof is leaking in the rain, the rain comes in from everywhere. There are so many things that I endured. There are things that you don't like to write about.

Did you continue to study after your release?

I have never been interested in formal education. To this day, I don't even have a graduation certificate. I started reading outside literature and found poetry. I also got interested in politics. Before the military government in 1962, students could form unions easily. I spent most of my times in these activities. I transferred to various schools, too. I would be absent from class twenty days out of a month. So were my friends. I wanted to taste the world even when I was young. I didn't have much money. But with the little money I had, I would take trains to the outskirts of town and see life around me. I wanted to be happy, but with the military regime everything got turned upside-down. My friends were also not happy. We found happiness in teashops, and in pubs talking poetry and politics late into the night. We had no work. Only government employees had jobs.

And writing under censorship?

Living through the dictatorship, through such a bad era itself was a poem. We illegally published our poetry back then.

You became a better poet by thinking about how to get around the censor. Many of us were good enough, clever enough, witty enough to outsmart the censor.

It was not possible to just follow the government and write what they wanted you to say. That is not a way to create anything of value.

My definition of political activism is standing by the side of the oppressed and disadvantaged, not with the government, whoever they are.

What is it like to write now that censorship has been abolished?

It is so free now. Protest is nothing. Nothing is new anymore. You can now create anything you want. It is so open that you don't know when and how to control your art. Everyone thinks he can be a poet just by scribbling three or four lines. Nowadays, in the so-called time of transition, writing has become much more free, but you also bear a greater responsibility as a result. You now have a duty to improve your poetry.

How do you write?

In my advanced age, I write everyday. You can't set a specific time to write poetry. Once something comes into my mind, I write it down immediately. I'm always in an auto-on mode: always ready to write a poem.

I re-read my poems before I send them to a publisher. You may find your technique during this process. You can't devise a poetry writing technique. You can only find it through writing.

You have made a living solely as a poet.

I can't live without poetry. Poetry is a part of me, just like breathing, drinking water, eating. I don't deliberately try hard to write. Poetic expressions just naturally come into my head for no reason at any time. I don't know if it's a gift or bad luck. I think it is my fate. I was a poet in my previous life. And I want to be a poet in my next life as well.

What do you want to tell the new generation of poets today?

Your poems must improve every day. Don't be pleased or satisfied with what you already have. You must know there is something better, something unachieved, behind what you have just created. Try to improve yourself after each and every poem.

Authors’ Note: These interviews are excerpted from Burma Storybook, a poetry and photography book inspired by the documentary film of the same name, produced by Corinne van Egeraat and directed by Petr Lom. 

The English language hardcover edition of the book is for sale at Hla Day, Innwa Bookstore, Myanmar Book Center and the Strand Hotel.

 A Burmese language-only paperback edition of the book is for sale through Yangon Book Plaza.

There will be a Free Open Air Screening of the Burma Storybook documentary film (82 min.) in Mahabandoola Park in Yangon on November 25 at 6 p.m. From Nov. 25 to Dec. 4, you can visit the interactive Burma Storybook Photo Exhibit at the Tourism Burma Building.

For more information: www.burmastorybook.com

The post Aung Cheimt Brokers No Compromise in His Art appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Maung Aung Pwint Places Empathy at the Heart of his Work

Posted: 17 Nov 2017 06:50 AM PST

Maung Aung Pwint (b. 1945) is from the city of Pathein in the Irrawaddy River Delta.  He lives on a bend in the river, where it sweeps by towards the sea, in a two-story brick house at the edge of town. He and his wife live together with their daughter's family, who run a stationary store and lending library from the ground floor. The street he lives on was paved last year, one of the visible signs of Myanmar's new economic boom.  This year, together with a business partner, his wife has been able to save up enough money to buy a taxi.

The many visitors who stop by his house address Maung Aung Pwint as Saya, or teacher. They come to pay respect, read their poetry, and ask advice, sitting at his feet. For he is widely recognized as the most distinguished living dissident poet in the country.

Maung Aung Pwint discovered poetry as a solace to family misfortune:

My mother died in the civil war when I was a child.  I always remember this. In my childhood, there was no more playing and happiness. Fortunately there was a small library in my village. I went there and read books. There were a few magazines where you could read poems. They became my closest and dearest friends. They taught me how to face all the troubles in my life. Poetry taught me how to find strength, peace of mind, how to live.  

As a young man, he gravitated into political activism, as an editor and distributor of an anti-government newspaper, and as a documentary filmmaker documenting minority injustice and forced labor.

I traveled all over the country, including to the ethnic regions. It was so beautiful. The region was not deforested yet.  I even mailed stones from there home. It felt like they were living creatures. But the government army was already on the assault.  Ethnic people were badly tortured. The army used rape as a weapon. I saw these things with my own eyes. I decided to become involved.  Writing poetry was not enough. 

Hi activism led to his arrest and imprisonment on four occasions: 1967-68; 1978-1980; 1997; and 1999-2006, sometimes for charges as absurd as "possession of a fax machine." With a smile that seems to radiate from his entire being, he quips, "I seem to go to jail every ten years", and explains:

When we were locked up together, I was the oldest of the lot. All the youth were helpful to me. We'd recite poetry every night and deliver poems to those in other wards who could not hear us. We never stopped learning, collecting poetry and sharing our experiences.  So in a strange way, my time in jail has been worthwhile.

In prison, Maung Aung Pwint wrote one of the most famous poems in the country – "Night of a hot bosom" – after one of his wife's visits, scribbling it on the whitewashed wall of his cell to calm his desperation.  The poem is about unrequited love for his wife and for the moon he was unable to see from his cell.  He turns over his drinking pot and sees at least the moon's reflection in the spilled water on his concrete cell floor.

I'd like to gather the moonlight, and pour it into ants' nests where darkness reigns.

Maung Aung Pwint's health is fragile, his years of imprisonment have left deep marks.

In 1999, I was interrogated for twenty-five days. They didn't allow me to sleep. The warden clanged the keys in my cell door-lock every half hour at night. I still can't stand the sound of keys.

He now suffers from Parkinson's, and many days he is no longer able to write, instead dictating his poetry to his ever-present wife, Daw Nan Nyunt Shwe.  She says that during his imprisonment:

We felt like invisible ghosts.  People were repulsed or scared by us because of his involvement in politics.  But I have to understand, everyone was afraid.  The key to my survival was never to show I was afraid.  When the police came to search our house, I told them to take their shoes off before they entered. And they did.                                 

To make a living, she sold soup in the market early in the morning before going to work as a schoolteacher.

Imprisonment was not easy on the family. Maung Aung Pwint says:

When I was sent to jail in 1978, it was International Children's Day. I only learnt about that day when I was already in jail. It was August 6th. We were even playing football that morning.  It was raining, and my son was only three years old.  He was so happy when I dived for the ball. They arrested me in the evening.  August 6th was also the day the Atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. It was like a bomb was dropped on our house too.  The day I was sentenced, I was at the gate of the jail, and my son came running up towards me. But he was not looking and ended up hugging a guard by mistake.

Maung Aung Pwint named both of his son and daughter "peace" – Nyein Chan.  But this has been elusive for his family.  His son became a rebel soldier in the jungle, ultimately fleeing to Thailand and then resettling as a refugee in Finland.  He only returned to see his family again for the first time in almost twenty years just this past year.

Maung Aung Pwint reflects on his country's history:

During the military dictatorship and our 66 year-old civil war – the world's longest – there was so much cruelty and suffering. We empathized with this suffering, and our feelings are reflected in our poems. Now, even religion doesn't have much place in my mind. Only poetry, empathy, and yearning for peace. That's enough to lead a life of value.  

 Empathy, above all, is at the heart of his work:

To respect feeling. Feelings are important. The nature of poetry itself is that of empathy. That is why only feelings are important in poetry, not the form or style.

There may be some who care about form first. But without feeling, what else do you have?

 Authors’ Note: These interviews are excerpted from Burma Storybook, a poetry and photography book inspired by the documentary film of the same name, produced by Corinne van Egeraat and directed by Petr Lom. 

The English language hardcover edition of the book is for sale at Hla Day, Innwa Bookstore, Myanmar Book Center and the Strand Hotel.

 A Burmese language-only paperback edition of the book is for sale through Yangon Book Plaza.

There will be a Free Open Air Screening of the Burma Storybook documentary film (82 min.) in Mahabandoola Park in Yangon on November 25 at 6 p.m.From Nov. 25 to Dec. 4, you can visit the interactive Burma Storybook Photo Exhibit at the Tourism Burma Building.

 For more information: www.burmastorybook.com

The post Maung Aung Pwint Places Empathy at the Heart of his Work appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Gen Aung San to Return to Banknotes Despite Military Disapproval

Posted: 17 Nov 2017 04:47 AM PST

YANGON — The entire bloc of military appointees in the Lower House stood up against a motion to reinstate the image of the country's late independence hero Gen Aung San on the country's currency on Friday.

Surprisingly, all 107 of the unelected military representatives and one lawmaker from the former ruling military proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) boycotted a proposal urging the Union Government to issue future notes showing the face of the late hero.

The military's disagreement immediately encountered angry reactions on a live stream of the parliamentary session on the Lower House Facebook page.

The bloc was defeated by votes from 286 lawmakers from the ruling National League for Democracy party and other lawmakers from the USDP and also a dozen ethnic parties, who supported reinstating the former general's image of the currency, which was phased out by the former military junta.

Parliament's approval of the proposal could be considered a breakthrough for the NLD and its supporters.

Pictures of Gen Aung San, the father of Myanmar's State Counselor and de facto leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, were first printed on currency notes in 1958, 10 years after he was assassinated along with eight of his colleagues.

But those bills were gradually removed from circulation after the rise of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as a leader of the Burmese pro-democracy movement following the 1988 student uprising.

The banknotes were later redesigned with a lion or elephant on the front and the country's famous buildings and landscapes on the other side.

Military representatives stand against a motion to reinstate Gen Aung San to the currency in the Lower House. / MRTV/ Lower House Facebook Page

Military appointee Lt-Col Kyaw Min Hlaing told lawmakers that the animals – peacocks, lions and elephants – were featured on the notes as all Myanmar ethnic groups valued and acknowledged them as national symbols, during the discussion on the proposal submitted by NLD lawmaker U Aung Khin Win.

He said the proposal shouldn't be considered while the country's economic growth is slow, citing the redesign and printing cost for new banknotes.

NLD Lower House lawmaker Daw Wint Wah Tun replied that she seconded U Aung Khin Win's proposal as it meant not to replace the current banknotes of various denominations from circulation with new banknotes, which could be between 100 billion to 300 billion kyats.

Instead it suggested using banknotes with the image of Gen Aung San rather than pictures of animals whenever the Central Bank needed to replace damaged notes or to release new sizes or new denominations in the future, she said.

NLD lawmaker U Aung Khin Win who submitted the proposal said, "It goes without saying that people would love to use banknotes with the image of Bogyoke rather than with pictures of lions or elephants," at the previous parliamentary session.

Seven other lawmakers participated in the discussion during Friday's parliamentary session, agreeing to the proposal.

U Soe Min, a deputy governor of the Central Bank, also supported the proposal.

NLD lawmaker U Aung Khin Win who submitted the proposal said, "It goes without saying that people would love to use banknotes with the image of Bogyoke rather than with pictures of a lion or elephant," at the previous parliamentary session.

The post Gen Aung San to Return to Banknotes Despite Military Disapproval appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Cambodia Faces International Action After Banning Opposition

Posted: 16 Nov 2017 09:36 PM PST

PHNOM PENH — The United States promised "concrete steps" against Cambodia and the European Union raised a threat to vital trade preferences after the main opposition party was banned ahead of elections.

The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was dissolved by the Supreme Court on Thursday at the request of the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, whose rule of more than three decades faces a major challenge at next year's general election.

The ban on the CNRP followed the arrest of its leader, Kem Sokha, for treason. He is accused of plotting to take power with American help.

Hun Sen's critics called the CNRP dissolution an attempt to steal the election and the death knell for democracy after Western donors have spent billions of dollars since 1993 trying to build a multiparty system following decades of war.

"On current course next year's election will not be legitimate, free, or fair," a White House statement said, promising to take "concrete steps."

The first of those was to end support for the Cambodian National Election Committee ahead of the 2018 election, it said.

In Brussels, an EU spokesman said the election could not be legitimate without the opposition and noted that respect for human rights was a prerequisite for Cambodia's access to EU trade preferences under its "Everything But Arms scheme."

That scheme giving tariff free access – and similar trade preferences in the United States – have helped Cambodia build a garment industry on low cost labor. Between them, EU and U.S. markets take some 60 percent of Cambodia's exports.

There was no immediate government response to the reaction from the United States and European Union.

In a symbolic step, the US Senate passed a resolution calling on the Treasury and State Departments to consider placing Cambodian officials implicated in abuses on a watch list for asset freezes and travel bans.

War of Words

Hun Sen has been in a deepening war of words with the US embassy and State Department over a crackdown on his critics, but at the weekend posed with US President Donald Trump at a regional summit and praised his policies of non-interference.

The fact that the threat of action came from the White House gave it greater weight than previous statements from the State Department calling for the release of Kem Sokha.

So far Western countries have shown little appetite for sanctions and the opposition itself has shied away from calling for steps to restrict garment exports because of the hundreds of thousands of workers who depend on them.

But leaders of the CNRP now say they support some sanctions.

"Sanctions are the best leverage for negotiation for free, fair and inclusive elections," said Mu Sochua, a deputy to CNRP leader Kem Sokha who fled Cambodia fearing arrest.

There have been no protests over the ruling and many people in the capital, Phnom Penh, said they were afraid to speak out.

There were no party members at the CNRP headquarters, only security guards. "They are worried about their safety," said security guard Chin Savy.

The central market was full of its usual bustle and one man told Reuters he was glad to see the back of the opposition.

"Hun Sen has a lot of help from China. If he just depended on the U.S. we wouldn't be anywhere," said Khen Kong, 69, a businessman.

China is by far the biggest single donor to Cambodia and its biggest investor. It voiced support for the government after the arrest of Kem Sokha.

In a televised address on Thursday, Hun Sen told Cambodians the election would go ahead "as normal" and appealed to politicians from the CNRP who had not been banned to join his Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).

US-based campaign group Human Rights Watch said the court ruling should lead Cambodia's donors and trade partners to impose targeted sanctions, including asset freezes and travel bans on Hun Sen's inner circle.

The post Cambodia Faces International Action After Banning Opposition appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Angelina Jolie Condemns Sexual Violence Against Rohingya Women Refugees

Posted: 16 Nov 2017 09:23 PM PST

DHAKA — Filmstar Angelina Jolie has condemned sexual violence inflicted on Rohingya women in Myanmar's Rakhine State, where a military counter-insurgency operation has sent hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees across the border to Bangladesh.

More than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Buddhist-majority Myanmar since late August, driven out by the military's actions that a top United Nations official has described as a classic case of "ethnic cleansing."

Jolie, a special envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told a Bangladesh delegation in the Canadian city of Vancouver that she planned to visit the Rohingya victims of sexual violence.

"Later she mentioned accordingly in her keynote speech about the sexual violence faced by almost each female Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh and condemned the armed conflict in Myanmar," Bangladesh's foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

It gave no details of Jolie's proposed trip.

On Thursday, New York-based Human Rights Watch accused Myanmar security forces of committing widespread rape against women and girls as part of a campaign of ethnic cleansing.

The allegation echoes an accusation this week by Pramila Patten, the UN special envoy on sexual violence in conflict, who said sexual violence was "being commanded, orchestrated and perpetrated by the Armed Forces of Myanmar."

Myanmar's army released a report on Monday denying all allegations of rape and killings by security forces, days after replacing the general in charge of the operation.

In parliament on Wednesday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh would overcome obstacles to resolve the Rohingya crisis, with the help of the international community.

"I strongly believe we will find a peaceful solution to the unprecedented crisis with the help of the international community, despite various obstacles," she said.

There were already about 300,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh before the most recent exodus.

The post Angelina Jolie Condemns Sexual Violence Against Rohingya Women Refugees appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

UN States Call for End to Myanmar Military Operations

Posted: 16 Nov 2017 09:05 PM PST

UNITED NATIONS — A United Nations General Assembly committee on Thursday called on Myanmar to end military operations that have "led to the systematic violation and abuse of human rights" of Rohingya Muslims in the country's Rakhine state.

The move revived a UN resolution that was dropped last year due to the country's progress on human rights.

The General Assembly's Third Committee, which focuses on human rights, voted 135 in favor, 10 against with 26 abstentions on the draft text that also asks UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to appoint a special envoy on Myanmar.

For 15 years the Third Committee annually adopted a resolution condemning Myanmar's human rights record, but last year the European Union did not put forward a draft text, citing progress under the leadership of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

However, in the past three months more than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh after the Myanmar military began an operation against Rohingya militants, who attacked 30 security posts and an army base in Rakhine state on Aug. 25.

This prompted the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to put forward a new draft UN resolution, which will now be formally adopted by the 193-member General Assembly next month. The resolution deepens international pressure, but has no legal consequences.

Myanmar's army released a report on Monday denying all allegations of rapes and killings by security forces, days after replacing the general in charge of the military operation in Rakhine State.

Top UN officials have denounced the violence as a classic example of ethnic cleansing. The Myanmar government has denied allegations of ethnic cleansing.

Myanmar is refusing entry to a UN panel that was tasked with investigating allegations of abuses after a smaller military counteroffensive launched in October 2016.

The draft resolution approved by the Third Committee on Thursday urges Myanmar to grant access. It also calls for full and unhindered humanitarian aid access and for Myanmar to grant full citizenship rights to Rohingya.

They have been denied citizenship in Myanmar, where many Buddhists regard them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

The 15-member UN Security Council last week urged the Myanmar government to "ensure no further excessive use of military force in Rakhine State." It asked Guterres to report back in 30 days.

Human Rights Watch accused Myanmar security forces on Thursday of committing widespread rape against women and girls, echoing an allegation by Pramila Patten, the UN special envoy on sexual violence in conflict, earlier this week. Patten said sexual violence was "being commanded, orchestrated and perpetrated by the Armed Forces of Myanmar."

The post UN States Call for End to Myanmar Military Operations appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

China Foreign Minister to Visit Myanmar Amid Rohingya Crisis

Posted: 16 Nov 2017 08:49 PM PST

BEIJING — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Myanmar and Bangladesh from this weekend, his ministry said on Thursday, amid a crisis over Myanmar's treatment of Rohingya Muslims.

More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since late August, driven out by a military counter-insurgency clearance operation in Buddhist-majority Myanmar's Rakhine State.

A top UN official has described the military's actions as a textbook case of "ethnic cleansing." Myanmar rejects accusations of rights abuses.

China has expressed support for what it calls the Myanmar government's efforts to protect stability.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters that Wang would go to Bangladesh and Myanmar this weekend where he would meet his counterparts and exchange views on bilateral ties and issues of mutual regional concern.

On Monday and Tuesday, Wang would attend a meeting of Asian and European foreign ministers in the Myanmar capital of Naypyitaw, Geng added.

He did not say whether Wang would discuss the Rohingya issue.

China and Myanmar have for years maintained close economic and diplomatic relations.

The United States and other Western countries have become more engaged with Myanmar in recent years, since it began a transition to civilian government after nearly 50 years of military rule.

International concern over the Rohingya situation has grown.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called during a visit to Myanmar on Wednesday for a credible investigation into reports of human rights abuses against the Rohingya committed by Myanmar's security forces.

The post China Foreign Minister to Visit Myanmar Amid Rohingya Crisis appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Official Peace Talks with UNFC Cancelled Amid Stalemate Fears

Posted: 16 Nov 2017 07:38 PM PST

CHIANG MAI, Thailand — The official peace talks scheduled for Thursday between the government and the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) were cancelled. In their place, the negotiators met informally to keep the process alive.

All of the members of the UNFC's Delegation for Political Negotiations (DPN) had travelled to Yangon on Wednesday. But on Thursday, only a few of them met the government's Peace Commission (PC) members for an informal discussion.

The DPN referred to the cancelled talks as the 9th round of formal talks, following a custom of designating each official meeting as a new round (thus they referred to their talks on Nov 8-9 as the 8th round of talks).

The government insists on numbering the latest talks as an extension of the 7th round held in October and seems in a hurry to bring the talks to a conclusion so that the five armed ethnic groups who make up the UNFC – the New Mon State Party (NMSP), Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), Lahu Democratic Union (LDU), Arakan National Council (ANC) and the Shan State Progressive Party (SSPP) – will officially join the national peace process as signatories to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA).

No public explanation was given for the cancellation of Thursday's formal talks. However, according to inside sources, it was to avoid a possible 'deadlock' over one of the eight demands that the UNFC has made as a pre-condition to signing the NCA, regarding the future name of the country. The UNFC wants the country to be officially described as the "Federal Democratic Union" but the government wants it to be the "Democracy and Federal Union."

The UNFC has repeatedly raised this point since the first session of the 21st Panglong peace conference, which was held in Aug-Sept 2016, under the National League for Democracy government, when all of the ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) attended the conference and presented their political objectives.

Alliance chairman Nai Hong Sar said at that time that a future federal union should have a name that "demonstrates ownership by all ethnicities or regions," instead of representing one ethnicity. Myanmar – the current name – is deemed to represent the majority Burmans. 

For about 17 months, talks between the DPN and government's PC have focused on the eight-point proposal that the UNFC put forward as its terms for signing the NCA. And despite the alliance saying this week that it was close to signing the agreement, it appears there is still a long road ahead until an accord can be reached.

The government had initially expected the UNFC would sign the NCA before the third session of the 21st Panglong Union Peace Conference, which State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi plans to hold before the end of 2017. However, that looks unlikely to happen now as both the UNFC and the Northern Alliance stick to their existing positions. The UNFC is demanding that specific conditions be agreed before they will sign, while the Northern Alliance wants an alternative approach to the NCA.

According to the sources close to the negotiations, further talks with the non-signatories to the NCA may be postponed if the government does not agree to all of the UNFC's terms. The UNFC has said that unless the government relaxes its rigid approach to the talks, the hurdles would remain.

In addition to the differences over specific proposals a lack of mutual trust dogs the talks. Disputes over terms as such “federal” and “revolution” are not new in the Myanmar peace process, which began in late 2011. In 2014, negotiations reached a stalemate due to differences over terminology as well as the Tatmadaw's inclusion of its Myanmar Army's six-principles on the process.

This major hurdle led to a disagreement between the EAOs and a split between those that signed the NCA in October 2015 and those that did not. Whenever it has seemed that progress was being made during the six years of peace talks in Myanmar, an issue has arisen to derail the process.

The current NLD government’s National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC), led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is dealing with three separate stakeholder groups in the peace process; the UNFC, the Northern Alliance and the eight-signatories of the NCA.

The government's talks with the active armed ethnic groups that are based in the northeast are currently on hold. The Northern Alliance's representatives, known as the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC), have demanded to hold talks as a bloc, a position the government has rejected, insisting it meet the groups separately.

The Tatmadaw has clashed militarily in northern Shan State with some of the FPNCC members – namely the Taang Nationalities Liberation Army (TNLA), Arakan Army (AA) and Kokang’s Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) – and has been reluctant to accept these groups as peace talk partners. This month the AA has also become more active in western Myanmar, in Paletwa of Chin State, which is close to the border with northern Rakhine State.

Meanwhile, the government continues its political negotiations with the signatories of the NCA, as it pushes forward with the broader peace process. Ongoing meetings regarding the political dialogue framework and reviews of the implementation of the NCA are being held.

The eight ethnic armed organizations’ Peace Process Steering Team (PPST) has expressed a shared optimism about the peace process. Its leaders said the peace talks were a channel for both sides to collaborate to reach a solution to the country’s political problems.

General Yawd Serk, a PPST leader and chairman of the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), urged all sides to have “patience to reach a common agreement, which would benefit both of the peace negotiation partners,” during his speech after the PPST’s 16th meeting in Chiang Mai on Wednesday.

“Our aim is to establish a federal union, self-determination, and peace and development in the country,” he said. “Therefore, we must aim to benefit our union, rather than winning over the negotiation partner [Tatmadaw and government].”

The post Official Peace Talks with UNFC Cancelled Amid Stalemate Fears appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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