In a new policy brief from PRIO, Political Parties and Peacebuilding in Myanmar (PRIO Policy Brief 5/2013), Marte Nilsen and Stein Tønnesson examine the role of Myanmar’s political parties and ask: How well are they equipped for the task of building peace? Are the ethnic-minority parties ready to take the lead role in promoting the interests of their constituencies? Will this cause armed groups to fade into the background? As previously marginalized opposition parties are playing an increasingly important role, an essential question in the run-up to the elections in 2015 is to what extent ethnic minority parties may be able to take over the role played by the armed groups in promoting ethnic-minority interests.

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The policy brief was produced as part of a project on 'Myanmar's Political Opening: Its Impact on Ethnic Conflicts', funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs