Myanmar to hold general election on November 8 – election commission

The nominally civilian government in office since 2011 has made lauded reforms though progress has stalled. “The Union Election Commission will announce further details later”, Thant Zin Aung, deputy director of Yangon’s election commission, told French news agency AFP.

The ballot would determine representatives of the bicameral parliament and regional chambers for five-year terms.

The announcement comes after months of speculation, and just two weeks after MPs voted down a motion to amend the constitution to allow persons with foreign family members, such as Aung san Suu Kyi, to run for the presidency, DVB reported on Wednesday. A minister said in March the European Union and U.S.-based Carter Center would be invited as monitors.

The NLD swept the last free general election in 1990 but the then-ruling military junta ignored the results and kept Suu Kyi under house arrest for years.

The NLD is due to declare whether it will compete in the general election this weekend. She has also expressed concern about unrest affecting the vote, without specifying the nature of the threat.

Parties including the NLD have already complained about inaccuracies in provisional voter lists. One clause mandates that 25 percent of the seats in Parliament be held by the military, ensuring it has veto power over constitutional amendments.

With Suu Kyi barred from the top job and no obvious second candidate within the NLD, observers predict the party could end up supporting a presidential candidate outside its ranks.