Several areas in Burma will not go for elections on November 7 the Union Election Commission (UEC) has announced. These are areas in the country where ethnic minorities are dominant, including two townships in Karenni State.

Mentioning fears of conflict, the junta announced on the state run television that polls would not take place in 300 villages in Kachin, Karenni, Mon, Karen and Shan States, which are home to armed ethnic groups.

Pruso and Pasaung Township in Karenni State cannot hold elections the UEC announced on state run newspaper ‘The New Light of Myanmar’ on September 16. MRTV said polls had been scrapped "because the situation there will not be conducive to free and fair elections."

Meanwhile, ethnic groups in those areas including the two main townships in  Karenni State said that the Election Commission announced not allowing  polling in areas where many villagers did do not have national identity cards, according to Karenni sources.

The announcement is the first sign from the government that the country's first election in two decades may not be as smooth as desired by the junta, despite the regime’s tight control over its organization and rules.

Pro-democracy groups, as well as Western nations and human rights organizations, have already criticized the election as unfair and undemocratic, though the accusations have hardly ruffled the junta's confidence.