Myanmar to hold general elections on November 8

The Union Election Commission of Myanmar has announced that the general elections in the country will be held on November 8. 

Elections will be held for 1171 national, state and regional seats in the country. The Election Commission announced that the polling will be held in all townships including those in self administered areas and also those considered conflict zones.

According to the Commission, 330 seats are for the Pyithu Hluttaw or Lower House of the Parliament. 168 seats are earmarked for the Upper house and 12 for each state and region.

More than 37 million voters are eligible to vote in the elections for which 94 parties will field their candidates. 

The nominations will be open from July 20 to August 7 and the scrutiny will be completed



between August 11-17. 

President U Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will be contesting the elections as National League for Democracy (NLD) candidates. The NLD came to power in 2016 after defeating the then-ruling USDP which was formed by ex-generals in the 2015 elections. The current NLD-led government’s tenure ends on March 31.

This will be the first election held under the civilian government in  six decades since 1960.

In both houses of the national parliament, 75 percent of representatives are directly elected, while 25 per cent are appointed by the military called Tatmadaw. A total of 110 members of the 440-member House of Representatives and 56 of the 224-member House of Nationalities are military appointes