Over 6,000 candidates registered for contest election in Myanmar

A total of 6,189 candidates from 92 political parties including 232 individuals have registered with the Union Election Commission as of the weekend to contest the upcoming general election scheduled for Nov. 8, according to the commission Monday.

Of the 6,189 candidates, 1,772 are for the House of Representatives (Lower House), 913 for the House of Nationalities (Upper House), 3,341 for region or state parliament and 163 for Region or State Parliament of National Races.

Myanmar's ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), led by new chairman U Htay Oo, has nominated a total of 1,139 candidates nationwide to run in the election.

Of the candidates, 320 are to contest for the seats of House of Representatives (Lower House), 166 for House of Nationalities ( Upper House), 632 for Region or State Parliament and 29 for Region or State Parliament of National Races.

Of USDP's candidates, new party chairman U Htay Oo will run in Hinthada township constituency in Ayeyawaddy region, while U Shwe Mann, who is parliament speaker, will compete in Phyu township constituency, Bago region. Other party leadership such as Dr. Sai Mauk Kham and U Nyan Tun, who are current vice presidents, will run in Lashio township constituency in Shan state and Zeegon township constituency in Bago region constituency, respectively.

Meanwhile, the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi, has announced that 1,138 candidates from the party would compete in 319 constituencies for seats in the House of Representatives, 166 constituencies for the House of Nationalities, 624 constituencies for Region or State Parliaments and 29 constituencies for Region or State Parliaments for National Races.

Of the NLD candidates, chairperson Aung San Suu Kyi will compete in her original Kawhmu township constituency in Yangon region for the seat of House of Representatives.

All of the nominees are to go through scrutiny process of the election commission.

The election commission has designated a total of 1,179 constituencies across the country for the vote at four levels of the parliament.