Burma’s Union Election Commission has set a Nov. 3 date for this year’s by-election, which will involve races for 13 seats across the Union Parliament and state and regional legislatures.

A member of the Union Election Commission tells a session of Parliament’s Upper House that a by-election will be held sometime in 2018 to fill eight vacant seats in legislatures at the state, regional and national level.

A Union Election Commission member says Burma expects to hold a by-election in 2018, adding that the commission will plan the poll to fill the vacant seats if the chambers of the respective parliaments request that the UEC do so.

The Union Election Commission has summoned a spokesperson for the Union Solidarity and Development Party to provide evidence after the latter questioned the commission’s ability to rule on electoral disputes impartially.

The Union Election Commission will need more time as it weighs approving the establishment of a new political party with a declared nationalist bent, according to the head of the electoral body.

Burma’s Union Election Commission has allowed the registration of the Arakan League for Democracy, re-establishing a political party that was a formidable competitor in national polls 27 years ago but may further fracture ethnic Arakanese political solidarity in future votes.