The Democracy and Development Party (DHRP), which is a pro-Rohingya party has requested the government to allow it to join the Peace Conference, which is due to be held in Panglong town. The party made the request in a letter sent to the government on 25 January. A leader of DHRP U Kyaw Min said by allowing his party in the peace conference would pave a way for resolving conflict in Rakhine State. However, Ma Ba Tha leader U Wirathu wrote a post on his Facebook page on 5 February that DHRP is trying to act like a camel in a Arabic story, in which an owner of the tent was evicted after he allowed the camel to take shelter inside his tent. The conference to be held in conjunction of the Union Day on 12 February expected to be attended by the leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the leaders of the other party. That is why DHRP has requested for participation. A leader of DHRP said his party should be allow to join the conference, “only then we can say the conference is all inclusive. We should have right to participate in an ethnic peace conference,” U Kyaw Min said. The letter sent to the government by DHRP mentioned that representatives from the region where there is conflict between two communities should be allow to join the conference, for the sake of sustainability of the peace process. The letter said it will be unwise to leave behind Muslims from Rahkine State at a time state- based dialogue are being conducted based on region, ethnicity and the issues. DHRP was formerly known as National Democratic Party for Human Rights and the party contested in the General Elections of 1990 and won four seats. The party was dissolved after the military government refused to accept the results of the 1990 election. The party was re-established as DHRP in 2011. The party failed to win any seat in the previous elections. Reference: The Irrawaddy (6 February 2017, Wirathu Facebook page 5 February 2017