He told reporters that members of the tripartite UPDJC consisting of government representatives (including Tatmadaw and parliament), political parties and signatory groups have agreed on three matters concerning the upcoming Panglong conference.

The UPDJC is a body that is mandated by the framework of political dialogueto hold union-level political dialogue, including the 21st-Century Panglong Conference, and national-level political dialogues.

“We have agreed that our targeted date for commencing the second session of the 21st-Century Panglong Conference is February 28.

“The composition of the conference remains unchanged, with a total of 700 participants. We have also agreed to try our best to get the participation of non-signatory groups to the conference,” said U Zaw Htay.

The first meeting of the 21st-Century Panglong Peace Summit was held at the end of August last year, where nearly 20 armed ethnic groups were given a chance to air grievances and outline their political aspirations.

But the conference held at that time did not end with any resolutions.

For this second meeting, members of the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), a coalition of seven armed ethnic groups, have already reportedly said they will not attend.

After sitting in on a meeting last month, UNFC released a statement that it would cooperate with the National League for Democracy (NLD) government for the practical implementation of the 7-step policy for ‘national reconciliation and peace’, which was announced by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in October last year.

Negotiations for UNFC’s previously proposed nine points have not been finalised.

According to the framework for political dialogue, armed ethnic groups are required to sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement as a pre-requisite. So far, only eight groups have signed the NCA with the former administration to hold national-level political dialogues.