<p><img alt="" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/645/22757615531_ec54e95343_c.jpg" /></p> <div><span>Ethnic parties in Myanmar elections (Infographic: Myanmar Now, Prachatai) <a href="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/645/22757615531_ec54e95343_b.jpg">See large image here</a></span></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <p><img alt="" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/782/22125224143_83307918a6_b.jpg" /></p>

<div><em>Unexplained attacks on members of different religious communities in Mawlamyine are seen as attempts to foment inter-communal tensions ahead of the Nov. 8 elections.&nbsp;</em></div> <p></p>

<p>Myanmar Now gives an overview of important events leading up to elections on Nov. 8, billed as Myanmar’s first free and fair national vote in 25 years.</p> <p></p>

<p>Myanmar will hold general elections on November 8, 2015, the first multi-party elections in 25 years since the result of 1990 general elections, held after the 8.8.88 democracy uprising, was rejected.<br /></p>

<p>The Union Election Commission (UEC) has&nbsp;<a href="http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=72826759&amp;msgid=908506&amp;act=98NZ&amp;c=348258&amp;destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dvb.no%2Fdvb-video%2Felection-2015-polls-wont-open-in-karen-states-east%2F57703">declared</a>&nbsp;102 villages in Karen State to be too dangerous for polling to take place, which will prevent nearly 10,000 citizens in Burma from voting during the 8 November, 2015 General Elections. The announcement comes amid a number of similar voting cancellations and interference during the last few months.<br /></p>

<p>A request from the Burma Army to issue army personnel as polling station officers across 15 polling stations within military compounds in Zeyathiri Township has been&nbsp;<a href="http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=72826759&amp;msgid=908283&amp;act=98NZ&amp;c=348258&amp;destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irrawaddy.org%2Felection%2Fnews%2Felection-body-rebuffs-military-request-for-poll-presence-in-naypyidaw-constituency">denied</a>&nbsp;by an election sub-commission in Naypyidaw.</p>

<p>On 15 September 2015, the foreign embassies of Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Norway, Japan, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America&nbsp;<a href="http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=72826759&amp;msgid=908095&amp;act=98NZ&amp;c=348258&amp;destination=http%3A%2F%2Fmizzima.com%2Fnews-election-2015-election-news%2Fforeign-embassies-offer-support-credible-election">issued a joint statement</a>&nbsp;calling on the Burma Government to ensure transparency in the 2015 elections.</p>

<p>The Union Election Commission has&nbsp;<a href="http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=72826759&amp;msgid=907882&amp;act=98NZ&amp;c=348258&amp;destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dvb.no%2Fnews%2F2015-election-women-account-for-13-of-candidates-burma-myanmar%2F57024">announced</a>&nbsp;that of the 6,189 candidates that registered for the 2015 elections on 8 November, only 800 are women.</p>

<p>Despite the euphoria surrounding the upcoming national election in November 2015, human rights abuses and violations are still prevalent in Myanmar with no clear sign of improvement.</p> <p>Representatives from many local civil society organisations (CSOs) in Myanmar took the floor at&nbsp;a Lecture organized by UPR Info and the Burma-Myanmar UPR Forum,&nbsp;at Thammasat University, Tha Prachan Campus, Bangkok, on Wednesday morning, 9 September 2015, to&nbsp;present on the human rights situation in Myanmar and in the borders of Thailand/Myanmar.&nbsp;</p>

<p>On 20 August, the Union Election Commission (UEC)&nbsp;<a href="http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=72826759&amp;msgid=907652&amp;act=98NZ&amp;c=348258&amp;destination=http%3A%2F%2Fglobalnewlightofmyanmar.com%2Fuec-announces-preliminary-candidate-lists%2F">announced</a>the preliminary candidate lists for the upcoming 8 November General Election. So far, 5,866 candidates have been nominated from 93 political parties across the country, with both the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and the National League for Democracy (NLD) each fielding over 1,000 candidates.</p>

<p>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hrw.org/asia/burma" target="_blank">Burma</a>’s&nbsp;government should publicly condemn grossly discriminatory remarks by a regional official about gay men and transgender women, Human Rights Watch said today in a&nbsp;<a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/09/02/letter-mandalay-chief-minister-u-ye-myint" target="_blank">letter</a>&nbsp;to senior Burmese officials. The Burmese government is obligated under international law to protect all people in the country regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.<br /></p>

<p>As talks over the signing of a nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) continue, with another meeting planned for later this month, the Burma Army continues to attack various ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) in Kachin, Palaung, Shan and Karen areas, casting doubt on the dominant narrative of optimism that surrounds the NCA. Meanwhile, as has always been the case, it is civilians and local communities who are bearing the brunt of the war, with their protection glaringly absent in the ceasefire discourse.</p>