Myanmar will hold nationwide elections beginning Dec. 28, setting a date for polls that have been denounced as a sham to normalize the army’s 2021 seizure of power even as much of the country is wrack

Myanmar will hold the initial phase of its general election on December 28, state television said on Monday, outlining a roadmap for the first polls in the war-torn country in nearly five years that have already been derided by critics as a sham.

Myanmar’s military-appointed election commission announced Monday that elections will begin Dec. 28, setting a date for polls that critics have denounced as a sham intended to normalize the army’s 2021 seizure of power even as armed conflict rages throughout much of the country.