YANGON, July 2 (Xinhua) -- The Myanmar military appealed to stakeholders in the country on Tuesday to conduct effective peace building during the ceasefire period.
The appeal, made in an announcement of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Defenses Services, came two days after the military extended for the second time the suspension of military operation against armed groups in five military command regions for two more months from June 30 to Aug. 31.
During the first ceasefire period from Dec. 21 last year to April 30 this year and the second period from April 30 to June 30, ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) had conducted meetings and negotiations with the government to find a solution and to strengthen and develop the peace building works. However no progress was achieved as expected by the people, the announcement said.
While the military had initiated the path of peace building for the EAOs to work towards multi-party democratic system, the military stressed the need for them to sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Accord (NCA) as soon as possible and participate in the peace process by engaging in discussions and negations during the re-extended ceasefire.
The military expressed belief that finding solution through discussions and negotiations is the only way to resolve armed conflicts caused by the use of force which was opposite to the democratic path.
So far, 10 ethnic armed groups have signed the NCA since it was initiated in October 2015 by the previous government and the 21st Century Panglong Peace Conferences were held three times during the incumbent government in August 2016, May 2017 and July 2018, respectively.
