Myanmar to hold general election Nov 8

The Myanmar Election Commission has announced that the country’s next general election will be held on November 8.

In a statement on Wednesday, Hla Thein, chairman of the union election commission, said a "multi-party general election for the parliament" would be held on that day.

The vote is seen as a test for the country's fledgeling democratic government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

A total of 1,171 national, state and regional seats would be up for grabs in the election, with polling set to take place in all townships, including areas considered conflict zones and self-administered regions.

Analysts see the polls as an important test of Myanmar's transition away from direct military rule.

Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate, won power in a landslide in 2015 that ended decades of military rule. But her administration has come under pressure internationally over a military crackdown that drove hundreds of thousands of Rohingya into Bangladesh in 2017.

Dhaka/Mukul