Burma’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi confirmed on Monday that the so-called 21st Century Panglong Conference (21CPC) will begin on 31 August.
In an announcement released by her office, Suu Kyi also urged all committee members to coordinate logistics to ensure a successful 21CPC.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), former President Thein Sein, has stated that his party intends presenting its policies and stance to the Panglong summit.
Speaking at a workshop on national reconciliation and peace in the Burmese capital, Naypyidaw, on Monday, he said, “We intend defining our party policy and stance at the upcoming peace conference organised by the government.”
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The four-day workshop is joined by around 150 participants, made up of USDP central committee members, regional executives and the party’s parliamentarians. The workshop is generally considered a preliminary brainstorming session to draw up an itinerary of policies ahead of the party’s national convention which is set to kick off in the third week of August.
The previous USDP-led government, during its term under Thein Sein, reached a successful signing of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement with eight ethnic armed groups.
The 21st Century Panglong Conference, or 21CPC, was a name coined by Burma’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi to announce her new government’s participation in a peace process that was initiated under the previous military-led government. It will ultimately include a wide range of players from the government, the military, and ethnic groups, both signatory and non-signatory to the ceasefire accord.