MYANMAR is holding a general election with three voting phases in what its government says will usher in a return to civilian rule following a 2021 coup.
The following are facts and figures on elections in Myanmar:
> Four national elections have been held in Myanmar in the past 35 years, but only two – in 2010 and 2015 – resulted in the formation of elected governments. The 2020 election was annulled by a military junta, as was a 1990 ballot – 20 years after it took place and was ignored.
> 4,863 candidates have registered for this election.
> Six parties are taking part nationwide and 51 are vying for seats in a single region or state.
> 40 parties were dissolved in 2023 for failing to register for the election, including the former ruling National League for Democracy, whose government was ousted in 2021.
> 1,018, or one-fifth the candidates running, are from the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party
> Three rounds of voting were scheduled – Dec 28, Jan 11 and Jan 25.
> 52.13% was the voter turnout in the first round.
> 88.2% of lower house seats contested in the first round were won by the USDP.
> 664 seats are available in the bicameral parliament, with 440 in the lower house and 224 in the upper house.
> 25% of seats in both chambers are allocated to serving military personnel appointed by the armed forces chief, a quota set out in the 2008 constitution under the quasi-civilian political system. — Reuters
