BANGKOK (AP) — 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.

The dates for the subsequent phases of the elections, which authorities plan to hold over December and January for security reasons, will be announced later, Myanmar's Union Election Commission said,

Myanmar’s military government has announced that long-promised elections will begin on December 28 amid widespread scepticism that authorities will allow a free and fair vote. The Union Election Commission said on Monday that the vote would be the first phase in “step-by-step” general elections.