CNF reassures public on merit of signing NCA

10 October 2015 — The Chin National Front laid out to the public their logics behind signing the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement with Burma’s government, arguing that it will lead to the next step towards achieving their political goals.

In a public event held at Summit Parkview hotel in Rangoon, CNF Chairman Nang Lian Thang said that the NCA signing was only a first step forward approaching the national political dialogue.

The CNF is one of the 8 ethnic armed groups that will sign the NCA in Naypyitaw next Thursday, 15 October – a date believed to be chosen based on calculations by Burmese traditional astrological beliefs.

But some Burma watchers believe that the NCA has been rushed through in order to boost the image of ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) ahead of the November polls.

The Burmese government recognizes only 15 ethnic armed groups, while there are 21 according to the ethnic nationalities in the country.

Secretary-General Zing Cung said in his address that what the CNF had been doing was not negotiation itself but trying to find political solutions to decades-long problems for the State as well as the country.

Much of the public remains confused about why after several rounds of negotions some groups have chosen to sign the NCA while others have not. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the main interculator of the negotiations, the Myanmar Peace Center has accused China of interference and derailing the NCA process.

Mr. Zing Cung added that the NCA signing would pave the way to implement provisions in the bilateral agreements reached between the two parties on three separate occasions in 2012.

When asked about the implications for its armed status in the aftermath of the signing, the SG said that the CNF would still maintain their military force until they have achieved their objectives through political means.

After the signing, the Chin armed group said that any ensuing political dialogue must be free and conducted in an independent manner, outside of the Union parliament and the 2008 constitutional framework.#