Yangon, Myanmar (AHN) - Myanmar's ruling regime has barred several areas it deems unsafe from participating in general elections in November. According to state television, the electoral commission claimed that five of the country's states house armed ethnic groups, so voting in those townships could not be free and fair.
Myanmar was formerly known as Burma.
The so-called ethnic groups are considered dangerous because the Burmese junta has failed to integrate them into a border guard force.
The commission on Thursday said that no polls would be held in Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Mon and Shan.
Ethnic groups in eastern and northern Burma have been seeking autonomy since 1948 when the country earned independence from British rule.
Burma held its last general election in 1990 when the National League for Democracy (NLD) claimed a huge victory. However, the military did not allow it to take power and also detained its leader Aung San Suu Kyi. She has been under house arrest since then.
The NLD has described the November election as illegitimate and unfair and is boycotting it. Human rights groups and Western nations criticized the election, describing it as a sham. Some also claimed that it would be undemocratic.
China, however, urged the international community to not interfere in Burma's internal affairs.
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