Eighth anniversary of Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) held; Chairman of State Administration Council Prime Minister Chairman of National Solidarity and Peacemaking Negotiation Central Committee Senior General Min Aung Hlaing delivers address
NAY PYI TAW October 15
The eighth anniversary of Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) was held at MICC-II here this morning addressed by Chairman of State Administration Council Prime Minister Chairman of National Solidarity and Peacemaking Negotiation Central Committee Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
Also present were SAC Vice Chairman Deputy Prime Minister Vice-Senior General Soe Win, the SAC Secretary, the Joint Secretary and members, union level officials and union ministers, the Nay Pyi Taw Council chair, senior military officers from the Office of the Commander-in-Chief (Army), the Nay Pyi Taw Command commander deputy ministers, EAO leaders and representatives, witnesses of the NCA signing ceremony, officials of Union Peacemaking Central Committee (UPCC) and Union Peacemaking Working Committee (UPWC) that took part in the NCA negotiations, members of Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDC), officials of Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Committee, special representatives of neighboring countries, foreign diplomats, representatives of international organizations, invited guests and ethnic cultural teams.
First, the Vice-Senior General, SAC member Union Minister Chairman of National Solidarity and Peacemaking Negotiation Committee Lt-Gen Yar Pyae, ethnic leaders Saw Mutu Sae Poe, Gen Yawd Serk and JMC representative Sai Myo Thant, together with national races, formally opened the 8th Anniversary of NCA.
Next, the Senior General unveiled the signboard of the ceremony by pushing the button.
The Senior General and attendees looked around the booths on peace history narrated by dailies, documentaries on peace endeavors, booths of Border Affairs Ministry, Ethnic Affairs Ministry, MRTV that demonstrated ethnic TV and radio channels, and the booth displaying the photos on the beautify of the Union at the Lobby of MICC-II.
The second section of the ceremony was opened with LED animation at the Plenary Hall of MICC-II. The Flag of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar was collected saluted.
A dance team of Fine Arts Department staged a performance to the accompaniment of the song “towards the peaceful world of flowers” in honor of the NCA 8th Anniversary. A video clip on the birth of NCA, peace and development was shown.
The Senior General then delivered the address. In his speech, the Senior General dealt with a wide array of issues including brief history on the birth of NCA, eruption of armed conflicts, peace endeavors of the Tatmadaw government, relations between the Constitution and NCA, multi-party democracy and federalism, PR system and its inclusiveness of the entire national people, SAC and Tatmadaw’s endeavors for peace, SAC’s adoption and implementation of national visions and political visions in a comprehensive way (the address is featured separately).
Kayin Ethnic Leader Saw Mutu Sae Poe and RCSS (SSA) Chair Gen Yawd Serk of the NCA signatory groups gave speeches in honor of the anniversary.
Special Envoy for Asian Affa-irs Mr. Deng Xijun of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, De-putty National Security of India H.E. Mr. Vikram Misri, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister of Thai-land H. E. Sihasak Phaungket Keow, representatives of inter-national witnesses to NCA, and former Union Minister U Aung Min, representative of internal witnesses, also gave speeches in honour of the anniversary.
The Senior General, the Vice-Senior General, the SAC Secretary, the Joint Secretary and members posed for documentary photos together with the persons of NCA-S-EAOs, honorary award winner peace negotiators, special representatives of neighboring countries, and EAO aides, then with SAC members, union ministers, diplomatic of foreign missions in Myanmar, and with chairs and representatives of political parties, NCA signatories from government side, local witnesses, and participants in the peace process, and with union level organizations, officials of committees and commissions, senior military officers, mem-beers of National Solidarity and Peace Implementation Working Committee and dialogue committee, members of Central Advisory Board of SAC, advisors to the SAC Chairman.
Ethnic youths of MRTV of Ministry of Information sang the song honoring national solidarity, ethnic youths of Kachin, Kayah, Kayin and Chin states sang songs inviting to the north of Union, portraying peace and prosperity and unity of the country, and performed a collective Kayah dance, artistes of Fine Arts Department, Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture, sang the song wishing success, ethnic youths of Mon, Rakhine and Shan states performed songs and dances that portrayed unity, hospitality, and natural beauty, dance troupes of MRTV, FAD and national races collectively sang a song about the saying “blood is thicker than water.”
The Senior General present-ed flower basket in honor of peace and honorary cash awards to dance troupes of MRTV and FAD, and ethnic youths and posed for documentary photos with them.
After the ceremony, the Senior General hosted luncheon in honour of the attendees.
NCA was signed by the government, hluttaw, Tatmadaw and eight EAOs on 15 October 2015 in the presence of international diplomats including those from UN and international witnesses, and local witnesses. New Mon State Party and Lau Democratic Union, signed the NCA on 13 February 2018. NCA was not written by a single person or a single organization. Based on the aspirations and proposals of EAOs, the government, hluttaw, Tatmadaw and EAOs wrote and signed the NCA after holding many negotiations. NCA anniversary could be held for four years in a row. The fifth anniversary could not be held in 2020 because of COVID-19. But messages were exchanged in honor of the anniversary. The ceremonies to mark the anniversaries were held in 2021 and 2022. The 8th Anniversary was held on a national scale in accord with the guidance of the Senior General.