Burma’s general election will be held on Sunday, 8 November, the Union Election Commission (UEC) said on Wednesday.
By DVB | 8 July 2015
Burma’s general election will be held on Sunday, 8 November, the Union Election Commission (UEC) said on Wednesday.
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.
Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy (NLD) won the last ‘free and fair” election by a landslide in 1990 – a result ignored by the then-ruling military junta – cannot become president because her two children are British citizens, as was her late husband.
Late last week, the UEC announced that the constituencies for this year’s general election would be the same as those marked for the polls in 2010, with a total of 1,142 MPs to be elected for both houses of parliament and the regional assemblies.
In an official announcement dated 1 July, the UEC said 330 constituencies were confirmed for the lower house, 168 for the upper house, and 644 for regional parliaments. A further 29 regional seats will be appointed to national race representatives.
Prior to Election Day, political parties will have a period of 60 days for campaigning.
Issues regarding voter list irregularities remain unresolved, with the UEC offering to extend the period when citizens can check township voter lists to make sure their names have been registered.
The NLD is due to declare whether it will compete in the general election this weekend.