The In past years the anniversary of the ceasefire agreement between the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and the New Mon State Party (NMSP) has been a cause for celebration, with a large party held and well attended by leaders from both sides.

This year on June 29th a small party was held, at the NMSP office in Moulmein. In contrast to last year’s celebration, NMSP Senior Chairman Nai Rot Sa was absent, only officers attended, and although local monks were present it was widely acknowledged they were for show only, and did not hold much official presence. A spokeperson from the NMSP told Kaowao, “We invited high level officials from the SPDC based in Moulmein, but only one officer attended.”

The celebration was small, and speeches minimal; in total the official party last just 60 minutes. However NMSP members remained longer and discussed at length the current situation in southern Ye, where the SPDC has recently beefed up troop numbers in every village in southern Ye despite the 1995 ceasefire agreement stating troop numbers were not to increase in the area.

Although slated for discussions recently, as yet any official talks have failed to materialize. In their most recent meeting on the matter the SPDC sent only a junior officer who was unable to discuss the issue. Even before this latest rift between the parties, many analysts suggested growing animosity was present; the NMSP last year vehemently rejected the SPDC constitution and a major communication breakdown has been obvious for many months.