Seminar Report The role of Political Parties in Democratic Transitions

Introduction
In this report we aim at presenting the key highlights from the multiparty seminar held in Yangon regarding
the role of political parties in democratic transitions. The deliberations and discussions were very rich and
constructive and thus it is not possible to cover it all in a report, but the main seminar proceedings follow
below.
The seminar brought together a total of 116 participants including Myanmar political party representatives
(from 47 registered political parties), representatives from the Union Election Commission and key local
civil society groups engaged in democratisation. Experts and practitioners from Indonesia, South Africa,
Nepal and representatives from international democracy assistance organizations joined them to share
their experience on democratic processes.
The aim of the seminar was well achieved thanks to the participation and engagement of the political
parties in Myanmar and many others. “This is the first time for decades that so many parties are gathered
around the same table,” one of the political party leaders claimed and continued: ”Moreover, we have not
before jointly discussed our common roles and challenges as political parties”. The aim was exactly to
broaden the understanding of democratic transition processes in general and the roles of political parties
as democratic actors in Myanmar’s emerging democracy in particular. Moreover, the aim of the seminar
was to share knowledge, experiences and lessons learned from political transition processes in other
countries that share similarities with Myanmar – and offer an inclusive platform for to discuss issues of
national importance as well as key challenges and opportunities that Myanmar political parties face during
this important time. Thus, the first day was conducted in plenary and the second day four workshops on
the various themes were held.
The seminar was the first activity of the Myanmar Multiparty Democracy Programme established by the
Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy (DIPD) and the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Dialogue
(NIMD). The seminar was co-hosted by Nyein (Shalom) Foundation.
Seminar theme: The role of Political Parties in Democratic Transitions
The seminar confirmed that the political parties in Myanmar are right now taking important new steps and
also facing a lot of challenges and opportunities. While the situation is unique there are useful lessons and
experiences to draw from globally.
Political parties play a particularly important role during political transition processes. During these
periods, political parties have to make the system work and begin to deliver on some of the expectations
that the public has invested in them. During transitional periods political parties have a very important role
to play in supporting and contributing to the new emerging political system. In the process of adapting to
their new roles of oversight, aggregation and representation of citizens’ interests and act as an interlocutor
between citizens and the state, they face many challenges, including delivering on some of the
expectations that the public has invested in them. This is the case in Myanmar and many other countries
that have undergone a transitional process.
The background document to the seminar was the DIPD Reader “Political Parties in Democratic
Transitions” (now available in English and Myanmar language, http://dipd.dk/dipdpublications/), which
shows interesting findings from the transitions in Indonesia, Turkey, Serbia and South Africa that might be
relevant for the political parties in Myanmar. The publication shows that despite every country and every
transition has its own distinctiveness, four themes emerge that reflect common, often very practical
challenges for parties:
Strengthening the political party organisation;
Establishing multiparty dialogue between political parties;
Negotiating space for democratic politics;
Responding to voter expectations: Representation and delivery;
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