The Myanmar junta's election commission said Monday the first phase of a general election will begin on December 28. Photo of Asianews

YANGON — The Myanmar junta's election commission said Monday the first phase of a general election will begin on December 28, without detailing more about the phased-poll which the junta had said would be in December and January.

The Union Election Commission said the dates for the subsequent phases will be announced later, amid the ongoing civil war.

The announcement came after the military government on July 31 lifted a state of emergency it had maintained for four and a half years -- a step required before holding a general election. Under the Constitution, the vote must take place within six months of the emergency's end.

The military imposed the emergency on February 1, 2021, when it ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains in detention. It was extended seven times amid prolonged conflict with opposition forces made up of pro-democracy citizens who have taken up arms, along with ethnic minority militias.

Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy, is effectively excluded from the election, having been dissolved by the junta-appointed commission in 2023. It won a landslide victory in the 2020 general election, but the military claimed the vote was rigged and used that as justification for the coup. — KYODO