Myanmar's military-appointed election commission has scheduled by-elections for April next year to fill dozens of parliamentary seats, state media said on Friday, including in areas impacted by a protracted civil war, Reuters reported. The contest for vacant seats in 55 constituencies will be held on April 4, the Global New Light of Myanmar reported.

Source: Reuters via 985 The River

The Associated Press, reporting the same announcement published in the state-run Myanma Alinn newspaper on Friday, said the April 4 by-elections will fill 34 seats in the lower house, five in the upper house and 16 in regional and state parliaments. The vacancies were left by elected representatives who took ministerial or government posts, AP said.

Source: Associated Press via Reflector

Voting planned even where the war is still being fought

Several seats in the by-election will encompass townships in the Sagaing Region plus Chin and Shan states, where anti-military resistance forces have a strong presence, Reuters reported. At least seven of the constituencies are in towns that the military recently recaptured from armed groups fighting against it, and some are in seven states and regions where armed conflicts are ongoing, AP reported.

Not included is restive Rakhine state, bordering Bangladesh, where the military is locked in fierce fighting with the rebel Arakan Army, Reuters reported. In the general election, voting was held in 692 constituencies, with 121 excluded as they were out of the military's control.

A parliament the vote is unlikely to change

The vote follows a general election held in December and January that was won overwhelmingly by the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party in the absence of any viable opposition, Reuters reported, and the USDP currently controls 84 percent of the bicameral parliament. AP said the by-elections are unlikely to change the balance of power, but may provide a measure of public support for the parties contesting them. Myanmar has 440 seats in the lower house and 224 seats in the upper house, with military appointees occupying 25 percent of the seats in each chamber, AP reported.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, triggering widespread opposition and a civil war that continues across much of the country. AP described the April vote as the first electoral exercise since this year's general election, which critics said was designed to cement military rule.

What happens next

The commission has announced the polling date and the constituency breakdown, but no full campaign calendar was detailed in the initial reports. Whether voting can actually be held in the Sagaing, Chin and Shan townships named — several of them contested or recently recaptured — will be the first test, in a country where 121 constituencies could not vote at all in the general election.