War-torn Myanmar to hold long-awaited elections on Dec 28

Myanmar’s military-appointed election commission on Monday announced that the elections would begin on December 28, setting a date for polls that critics have denounced as a sham intended to normalise the army’s 2021 seizure of power even as armed conflict rages throughout much of the country.

The Union Election Commission said the elections would be conducted in phases over several days and that a full schedule would be released soon. A separate statement from the commission, published Saturday in the state-run Myanma Alinn newspaper, said all 330 townships in the country had been designated as constituencies for the election. Nearly 60 parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, have registered to run, according to the list on the panel’s website.