Role Of The Actors In Myanmar Peace Process(2011-2020)

Myanmar has been confronted by the civil war for decades since independence arguing the formation of state,power-sharing and ethnic equality.The country was founded based on the Panglong Agreement that assured ethnic equality,self-determination but it was never honored.This is the root cause of ethnic conflict between the government and Ethnic Armed groups that continues today.The ongoing peace process has launched by Thein Sein Government in 2011,to create solution the decades-long ethnic armed conflict through political means.EAOs have participated actively since the peace talks started to find political solution to their grievances on the negotiating table.The Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement(NCA)is the effort of the government and EAOs that pave the way for political dialogues and today peace process is based on the formation of the NCA.However,the NCA did not bring the peace in Myanmar because several EAOs including the two largest EAOs;the UWSA and KIA,refused to sign the NCA.Therefore,Myanmar peace process is more complex;to implement the current NCA-based peace process and to bring the Non-NCA signed EAOs to the negotiating table.The pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi assumed power in 2016 inherited the peace process based on the NCA initialed by the prior government.Her government focused on the completion of the NCA and set off the Union Peace Conference-21st Century Panglong,a series of formal dialogues between conflict stakeholders aimed at bring back the spirit of coming together of the historical Panglong Agreement bringing all EAOs to the table to end fighting and to reach agreements on elements that are incorporated into the Union Accord,which will form the basis of constitutional amendments aimed at establishing Democratic Federal Union.This study aims to focus the role of main stakeholders in the peace process;the government,EAOs and Tatmadaw,and suggests further research finding solutions for decades-long ethnic armed conflict in Myanmar.