Myanmar will conduct its general election on November 8th of this year, the Union Election Commission (UEC) announced. More than 37 million people are eligible to vote, it said, and 97 parties are eligible to run candidates. Of those, 79 will contest national seats. Polling for the 1171 contested national and local parliamentary seats will be conducted in all states and regions, including most autonomous zones and conflict-affected areas. Whether or not polling will occur in areas that are under total ethnic control (and thus have no UEC presence), such as Mine Lar and Wa, remains to be seen.

The upcoming election will be a test of the five-year performance of the National League for Democracy. After boycotting Myanmar’s 2010 election (the first in its new democratic era) the party of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi won in the 2015 election a majority of national and local parliament seats in a landslide victory against the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party. However, the NLD’s performance and reputation has been somewhat mixed. Critics have complained of the party’s failure to fully implement reforms in areas such as education, local governance, legislative efficiency, and transparency. On the other hand, the country has seen steady economic growth and a rise in foreign direct investment. On the world stage, the NLD was roundly criticized for its apparent support of the army’s clearance operations of Muslims in Rakhine State in 2017 and 2018. However, the actions of the army were far more popular within Myanmar, with a strong show of support for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as she defended the army before the International Court of Justice last year.