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.

The Union Election Commission said in a statement to journalists that the elections will be conducted in phases over several days and that a full schedule will be released soon.

Myanmar will begin its general elections on 28 December, its military government announced, in a phased poll widely condemned as a sham that will be used to entrench the junta's power. This will be the first vote since the junta seized power in a bloody coup in 2021, and imprisoned democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.