RANGOON — Burma’s Union Election Commission (UEC) has announced that the much-anticipated general election will take place on Nov. 8 of this year, putting a date to a poll that democracy advocates hope will be the country’s first credible nationwide election in more than two decades.
The announcement was made on Wednesday at the UEC’s headquarters in the capital Naypyidaw.
The general election will put 1,171 seats up for grabs between the Union Parliament and regional legislatures. The ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which dominated Burma’s last nationwide election in 2010—a poll widely viewed as fraudulent—is expected to face stiff competition from the National League for Democracy (NLD) and scores of ethnic political parties.
The NLD has not officially committed to contesting the polls, and has said it would make that decision once the date of the election was announced.
