ISTANBUL

Myanmar's electoral authority has announced that elections will not be held in dozens of constituencies during the upcoming general election, according to an official notice published on Monday by the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

The Union Election Commission (UEC) has announced that the December elections will not take place in 56 Pyithu Hluttaw (Upper House) constituencies, nine Amyotha Hluttaw (Lower House) constituencies, or 56 Region or State Hluttaw constituencies.

The decision was made because "these constituencies have been deemed not conducive to holding free and fair elections in the multiparty democratic general election," according to the commission.

Rebels control many of the barred constituencies.

The commission announced in August that the "multi-party democratic general election" would take place on Sunday, December 28, later this year.

The last general elections in the Buddhist-majority Southeast Asian country were held in November 2020 and won by the National League of Democracy (NLD), led by jailed Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. However, the government was overthrown in a military coup in February 2021.

The announcement of polls came after the military junta in July formed a commission to oversee general elections, effectively signaling the end of the state of emergency rule.

The 2021 military takeover ousted the elected government led by the NLD and plunged the country into more than four years of emergency rule.