The Union Government has announced several concessions to ethnic organizations before the upcoming fourth Union Peace Conference, 21st Century Panglong, in a bid to kickstart the country’s stalled peace process. While the three previous iterations of the Peace Conference had only been open to signatories of the National Ceasefire Agreement, the government has invited several non-signatories to the fourth meeting, planned for August 12-14. Furthermore, the government announced that it will recognize state charters drafted by 10 ethnic organizations, a step towards an eventual federal system. On the ethnic side, the Karen National Union and the Restoration Council of Shan State (the two largest NCA signatories) will attend the meeting after a two year hiatus from the peace process.

A successful Peace Conference would add much-needed momentum to the National League for Democracy’s struggle for political stability ahead of the November general election. The fourth Peace Conference had been planned for 2019, but disagreements between the Union Government and NCA signatories caused it to be delayed until April of this year, and it was once again postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Outside of the official peace process, the country has seen redoubled hostilities between the Tatmadaw (Myanmar army) and the Northern Alliance of armed groups in Shan and Kachin states, and the Arakan Army in Rakhine State. Tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced by the fighting. The Arakan Army, which the government has labeled a terrorist organization, is not among the non-NCA signatories invited to meet in Nay Pyi Taw this month.