YANGON, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- A multi-party parliamentary by-election began in Myanmar Saturday morning with over 900,000 eligible voters expected to cast their ballots for open seats.
A total of 69 candidates, including 62 from 24 political parties and seven individual candidates, are competing for 13 parliamentary seats in nine regions and states, where 1,383 polling stations are set up.
Of the 13 open parliamentary seats, four are available with the House of Representative (Lower House), one with the House of Nationalities (Upper House) and eight with the state or region parliaments.
Of the 62 political party candidates, 13 were nominated by the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) to compete in all seats, while 10 by the former ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and the rest were sent by other parties.
In Yangon region, a total of 100,553 eligible voters are expected to vote in two township constituencies, namely Tanmwe and Seikkan, open for each seat of the House of Representatives and region parliament respectively.
With 123 polling stations set up in Yangon's Tanmwe township constituency, NLD candidate U Toe Win competes against USDP's U Myo Win Kyaw, while with two polling stations erected in Seikkan township constituency, NLD's U Than Htaik Aung runs against USDP's U Nay Myo Aung.
Three other open seats for the House of Representatives are each available in Chin state's Kanpetlet, Shan state's Laikha, Mandalay region's Mingyan township constituencies, while the single seat for the House of Nationalities is vacant in Kachin state's Myitgyina township constituency.
Open seats for state or region parliaments are scattered in six other regions and states' township constituencies, including Rakhine state's Yathedaung in addition to Yangon's Seikkan as well as ethnic Shan constituency for Mandalay region.
