More than 37m eligible voters estimated to take part in Myanmar's 2020 general election

NAY PYI TAW - Myanmar has compiled a fundamental list of eligible voters for next year's general election, with an estimated 37 million people to vote for the next government, the Union Election Commission told a press briefing on late Wednesday.

Of the over 37 million eligible voters, over 17 million are male, while over 19 million are female, Commission Member U Myint Naing said.

The list has not yet included military personnel and their family members as well as those in five townships in Wa Special Region. By the time the complete list is compiled, the number of eligible voters will increase by over 3 million, he said.

With the date of the general election yet to be announced, the expenditure of a parliament candidate for election campaign is designated as previously as 10 million kyats (about $6,600), while 15 million kyats ($10,000) are set for those ethnic candidates in remote ethnic areas.

There are 96 registered political parties at present. With the completion of scrutiny of some other parties seeking registration by December, there will be over 100 when such applications close, according to the commission.

Myanmar's previous general election was held in November 2015, in which Aung San Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy (NLD) won the absolute majority of the parliamentary seats and ran the government since April 2016. The five-year term of the incumbent NLD government will end in March 2021.