relaxed restrictions on the press, and passed laws allowing for peaceful demonstrations and the formation of unions. In addition, the new government has secured cease-fires with over a dozen nonstate, ethnic-minority armed groups in the country, and has voiced its commitment to seeking a nationwide cease-fire accord that would launch a national political dialogue process seeking a full political settlement. Finally, restrictions were lifted on opposition parties, resulting in sweeping gains for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) in parliamentary by-elections in April 2012.