Op-ed: Constitution-making and peace process stagnation in Myanmar: Will a conditional clause help restore confidence in the 21st century Panglong Conference?

The national peace negotiation process in Myanmar is not working, and it is currently facing stagnation. After a 14-month delay, a third “Union Peace Conference—21st Century Panglong” (UPC-21CP) took place in Nay Pyi Taw in mid-July this year in a bid to convey a positive momentum. But, even then, core issues like political dialogue, security reform, natural resource-sharing and the ethnic right of self-determination were not included. Rather, only 14 subsidiary issues that are already covered in the 2008 constitution were discussed and agreed upon. They have now been added to a “Union Accord” that was partially inked at the previous UPC-21CP meeting last year. Like the 2008 constitution, the detail of the Union Accord remains a matter of deep controversy. Some of the longest-running ethnic conflicts in Asia are still continuing in several borderlands and, for the moment, it is very difficult to define in what direction Myanmar’s peace process is truly heading.
Read the full article here: TNI