CONTINUED FROM YESTERDAY
The NLD government-appointed ethnic members at high-ranking positions in the executive and the legislature and as chief ministers of States. However, the lack of consultation with ethnic parties undercut NLD’s measures for national reconciliation. Arakan National Party’s (ANP) political disagreement with NLD was most obvious with serious ramifications. ANP was the single largest party that won 22 out of 35 seats in Rakhine State Hluttaw. ANP was of the view that if NLD wanted to see ethnic parties cooperate in the peace process, national reconciliation and constitutional amendment, it should first give an ethnic party like ANP the opportunity to nominate the chief minister and form the government of Rakhine State or at least negotiate with ANP. However, NLD failed to do so. Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) and Mon National Party (MNP) were other ethnic parties that expressed similar disappointment towards the NLD. The Chairman of ANP, Dr Aye Maung, who was selected as the representative of ethnic parties in U Thein Sein’s six-party talk, missed the opportunity to represent ANP as the Chief Minister of Rakhine State. Instead, U Nyi Pu, the NLD member was appointed as the Chief Minister. Since then, NLD’s relations with Rakhine ethnic parties had become troublesome. The political rupture exacerbated existing security concerns in the Rakhine State. NLD’s failure to seize the opportunity of engaging governmental and nongovernmental actors/stakeholders to build confidence and common understandings rendered its reform dialogues half strained from the very beginning.