Myanmar peace commission apologizes to Wa state army for badge snafu

2016-09-02

Myanmar military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing leaves the stage after delivering an address during the opening of the Panglong Conference in Naypyidaw, Aug. 31, 2016. AFP

Myanmar's peace commission has sent a written apology to the head of the country's largest armed ethnic group, whose delegates stormed out of a major peace conference because of a mix-up regarding badges, a government official said Friday.

The delegation from the United Wa State Army (UWSA) walked out of the Panglong Conference on Thursday citing discrimination after they were informed that they had been accredited only as observers and not as speakers.

The commission sent the apology to Pauk Yu Chan, leader of the UWSA's Special Region 2 in the northern part of Myanmar's Shan state, requesting the militia's understanding about the shortcomings of conference managers, said Zaw Htay, spokesperson of the President's Office.

The peace commission has not yet received a response from the USWA, he said.

The 20,000-25,000-strong USWA, led by ethnic Chinese commanders, has not been involved in any clashes with government troops in recent years. It has, however, been accused of producing and selling illegal narcotics in the region it controls along Myanmar's border with China.

The USWA was one of the armed ethnic groups that refused to sign a nationwide cease-fire agreement (NCA) brokered by the former military-backed government last October.

The current government run by the National League for Democracy (NLD) has organized the five-day Panglong Conference to try to end decades of ethnic separatist civil wars and forge national reconciliation in Myanmar.

Proposal to rename country

Also on Friday, Naing Han Thar, chairman of the New Mon State Party (NMSP), another ethnic group taking part in peace negotiations, proposed changing the country's official name during discussions about turning Myanmar into a federal democratic state.

"Myanmar is the old term; the term 'Bama' was used when the British ruled the country," he said in a reference to British colonial rule in Myanmar, then called Burma, which ended with the country's independence in 1948.

"We understand both terms represent the same nationality," he said. "[But] it is not true that 'Bama' represents all ethnic groups in the country."

Most of the ethnic groups and militias participating in the peace conference, including the NMSP, seek the establishment of a federal democratic union in the country with equality for all ethnic peoples along with the right to determine their own fate and preserve their languages and cultures.

Most of the groups are also calling for additions or amendments to the country's current constitution of 2008, which was drafted by the military junta that ruled the nation for 50 years, to build a federal democratic political system that grants them federal autonomy.

The NMSP, however, wants lawmakers to draft a new constitution, Naing Han Thar said.

"The army has a policy to protect the 2008 constitution because it was written by military with the points the military wants in it," he said.

"The best way is to write a new constitution, because it is impossible to amend the 2008 constitution without the military's agreement," he said. "It would take a lot of time to amend it."

Reported by the Naypyidaw bureau and Myo Thant Khine for RFA's Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

Link to original story on RFA website