Military-escalating interim government forms working committee with recognized political parties for peace talks

The National Unity and Peace Steering Committee (NSPNC) of the interim government, which is escalating military operations and conducting bombing attacks across the country, has invited political parties recognized by the government to form a working committee for peace talks, it has been learned. The meeting was held in Nay Pyi Taw on August 17, with 55 political parties registered with the interim government in attendance. It was reported that the formation of the working committee was approved with the participation of many representatives from the proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) of the interim government. A former member of the National League for Democracy (NLD), which won the 2020 general election, pointed out that for the resolution of Myanmar's affairs, it is essential for all stakeholders, including State Counsellor and NLD Chairman Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who are unjustly arrested and detained, to participate. "I do not believe that this will be a truly genuine peace negotiation. If they truly want peace, they must release all political prisoners who are unjustly arrested, including our NLD party chairman and people's leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi," the NLD member told the Irrawaddy Times. There are assessments that although the military junta, after transforming into a transitional government, has re-established the NSPNC and is meeting with these political parties for the first time in a comeback, it will not lead to genuine peace negotiations. "The military junta uses the word 'peace' on one hand. But in reality, it is unclear whether it is peace or a declaration of war. Or is it peace or a demand for allegiance? " political analyst U Soe Win Swe commented to the Irrawaddy Times. It is reported that the working committee was formed with 32 members: 14 from parties that won six or more seats in the fraudulent 2025 election, 12 from parties that won one to five seats, and six from parties that did not win any seats. It was learned from party circles that in this formation, the proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) of the interim government was allowed to have two representatives, claiming to have the largest number of seats, while other political parties were only allowed to select one representative each, making the format similar to the working committee formed at the time of the coup. Daw Hnin Hnin Mway, joint secretary of the New Social Democratic Party (DPNS), also pointed out that although peace is being invited, bombing attacks are being carried out on the ground, indicating that the military junta has no desire for peace and is only making a show of it. "While the military junta talks about peace, they are committing murder and bombing every day. We see that they have absolutely no desire for peace. No matter how much they shout the word 'peace,' it will not happen," Daw Hnin Hnin Mway told the Irrawaddy Times. The working committee of the political party bloc was systematically formed in the past as a representative of all political parties in Myanmar's peace process and political negotiations, but it was nullified due to the military junta's coup. Similarly, in the Joint Committee for the Union Peace Conference (UPDJC), which was formed under the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), this working committee participated as the political party bloc, along with the government, military, and parliamentary bloc, and the ethnic armed organizations bloc that signed the NCA. In the first working committee of the political party bloc formed before the fraudulent 2025 election, U Ko Ko Gyi, chairman of the People's Party and current member of the State Administration Council, served as the leader. It is not yet known which party will lead the working committee formed for the second time, but it is scheduled to meet and discuss further with the NSPNC under the interim government in mid-September. Photo – MOI