The United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) released a statement on 7 April, 2015, to make clear its position on the nationwide ceasefire agreement reached with the Burmese government on March 31.The UNFC statement pointed out that the document, its Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT) signed on March 31, 2015, “was not the signing of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), but it was simply the signing of an approval reached on a draft agreement, between the NCCT and the [government’s] Union Peace-making Work Committee (UPWC).”
The UNFC said the approved draft of the nationwide ceasefire that the NCCT and UPWC agreed on had still to be approved by the ethnic leaders of the respective ceasefire groups. It is expected that the UNFC will hold a summit for its members to ratify, amend or reject the wording of the draft.
The UNFC said that the “approval of NCA draft, reached between the NCCT and UPWC is not the final accepted agreement, and the final signing shall be done only after continued discussions on some topics, and if there is the ‘required implementation’.”
The UNFC said that it would like to confirm that it “would consistently endeavor for the establishment of genuine peace and the federal union, and the resolution of various problems in the country, by peaceful means through negotiation.”
http://karennews.org/2015/04/unfc-confirms-nationwide-ceasefire-agreement-reached-with-govts-negotiating-team-is-draft-only-needs-ethnic-leaders-approval-first.html/
