Myanmar signs limited ceasefire deal with rebels but key groups stay away

Thein Sein inked the agreement in the remote capital Naypyidaw in a televised signing ceremony attended by the army chief and rebel representatives in ethnic dress.

It comes just before November 8 general elections for a new parliament, which will eventually lead to the election of a new president.

Though largely an agreement to keep talking, the agreement could pave the way for a more comprehensive political settlement in the future.

Earlier this week, all of the groups signing were removed from the government’s list of “unlawful associations”, a step towards bringing them into mainstream politics.

Billed as the National Ceasefire Agreement, it was the result of two-year-long efforts by both the government and other groups in ending the decades-long civil conflict in the country.

Ethnic groups, representing 40% of the 53 million population, have found themselves victims of military abuses and discrimination in areas spanning from health and education to road construction and access to electricity. They’ll be invited to political negotiations but because they don’t sign the nationwide ceasefire agreement, they will come as observers.

Since the end of the British colonial rule in the country in 1948, Myanmar has been grappling with internal struggles from countless ethnic minority armies battling for greater autonomy.

Local and worldwide witnesses will be present at the signing.

But there are still concerns that peace with the groups signing Thursday’s agreement could be short lived, if the Burmese army ignores the ceasefire, as it has with others. They include representatives from China, India, the European Union and the United Nations.

Among the groups not included in Thursday’s deal were the United Wa State Army, which is one of Myanmar’s most powerful rebel groups, and the Kachin Independence Organization, which controls large areas of the northeast.

Among the eight groups that signed the accord are major rebel forces such as the Karen National Union and the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army, respectively the ethnic Kayin and Shan insurgent groups engaged in fighting with the military for decades.

Violent clashes still rage in parts of the country, mainly in the northern Kachin and Shan states.

“It’s going to allow them to move around their territory, talk to their townships, build up relationships with people on the ground that they have not been able to do because before this they were called illegal”, said Jagan, the Myanmar specialist.