Myanmar gov't, ethnic armed groups to meet again for nationwide ceasefire talks

Myanmar government's Peace Making Group and that of the ethnic armed groups are set to meet formally for the third time at the Myanmar Peace Center in Yangon on Friday in an effort to finalize the second draft nationwide ceasefire agreement to be probably signed as a follow-up, according to the Peace Center Tuesday.

At the same time, a framework for holding political dialogue after reaching the ceasefire is also to be discussed by the government's Peace Making Work Committee (PMWC), the ethnic armed groups' National Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT) and ethnic political parties.

Clarifying with 150 representatives from 66 political parties in the Myanmar Peace Center here Monday for the first time on the framework of political dialogue, Vice Chairman of the PMWC U Aung Min said he expected the dialogue could start in the beginning of 2015.

Involving 16 ethnic armed groups, a week-long third ethnic armed groups' summit, which was held in late July in Laiza, northernmost Kachin state, adopted to speed up coordination with the government to finalize the second draft nationwide ceasefire agreement.

Held at the Headquarters of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the summit also laid down future programs to be implemented once the nationwide ceasefire accord is signed, which include drafting of framework of political dialogue, coordination for holding of political dialogue in phases until the signing of a union accord.

The summit pledged to uphold a three-point national political objective representing all ethnic nationalities which are building of a federal union guaranteeing the rights of democracy, national equality and self-promulgation.

The government had earlier signed ceasefire agreements bilaterally with 14 ethnic armed groups out of 16 during the past years and it is now moving forward to a nationwide ceasefire talks which President U Thein Sein extended on August 2011.