Peace Must Precede Development: Ethnic Party Reps

Following a meeting between five ethnic political parties, the participants called for peaceful discussions between Burma's new government and the country's ethnic armed groups, according to a representative from the Rakhine Nationals Development Party (RNDP).

Hla Soe, the secretary and spokesperson of the RNDP, said that peaceful discussions with the ethnic armed groups is a very important and necessary step for the new government.

“If the government really wants development in the ethnic areas where the civil war is still happening, they must seek peace in those areas first,” Hla Soe told The Irrawaddy.


The president, ex-Gen Thein Sein, said during his first speech that the new government will engage in development in every ethnic area and will start building the transportation links necessary to reach those areas.

Aye Maung, an MP and the chairman of the RNDP, said, “We appreciate that the new government will pursue development in the ethnic areas, but they must hold peaceful discussions with the different ethnic armed groups if they intend to do so.”

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, Aye Maung said that “The government should discuss issues with the ethnic armed groups without caring about the weakness or advantages of the groups. The government will also have to guarantee the security of the leaders of the ethnic armed groups if there is to be a real discussion between the government and the armed groups.”

“There will be a peaceful discussion if the armed group leaders are not arrested by the government,” Aye Maung added. “There will be no development in the ethnic areas without peaceful discussions.”

A representative from the Shan Nationalities and Democratic Party (SNDP), also known as the White Tiger Party, said that participants in the meeting also reviewed their experiences in the recently held parliamentary session.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Tuesday, a source close to the ethnic party meeting said, “The MPs submitted very important issues to parliament, such as a recommendation to start teaching ethnic literature and languages in schools, but they were rejected. Actually, this is a big issue for the ethnic people. In this meeting, we discussed how we can we submit and gain acceptance for our proposals in parliament.”

The meeting participants also discussed amnesty for political prisoners.

“We will keep urging the government to grant a general amnesty for the political prisoners. By doing this continuously, the international community will express its desire for the prisoners to be released. If the political prisoners are released, they can restart their political movement again in their own way,” said Aye Maung.

However, some Rangoon-based political observers said that the new government is not going to release the political prisoners.

“The major figures such as Minn Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi, who can influence the political and democracy movements of Burma, are not likely to be released because the new government still wants to maintain power. We can clearly see that even for basic governance in townships, the government is still using the old people,” said a political observer in Rangoon..

In addition, the parties present at the meeting expressed their confidence that the international community will support efforts to bring increased humanitarian aid to the ethnic regions.

Representatives from the RNDP, the All Mon Region Democracy Party (AMRDP), the Chin National Party (CNP), the Phalon Sawaw Party (PSP) and the Shan Nationalities and Democratic Party (SNDP), met for two days at the Rangoon headquarters of the White Tiger Party since yesterday.

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