Myanmar places Yangon under high security alert ahead of historical election

Myanmar government has placed Yangon region under high security alert ahead of historical general elections scheduled for Sunday.

The alert, ranged as yellow, is effective for the first two weeks of this month until Nov. 14, according to the Myanmar Police Force Friday.

More than 3,000 police force members, which make up half of Yangon region, is being put on alert, reinforced by 5,400 specially-trained police force out of 40,000, to provide additional security for the election.

There are more than 4.9 million eligible voters in the Yangon region with 5,495 polling stations , officials said.

A total of 6,039 candidates involving 91 political parties and 310 independent runners will compete for more than 1,000 seats at three levels of the parliament in the election, according to the commission's revised figures.

The Union Election Commission designated 1,163 constituencies for the vote at three levels of the parliament across the country. The commission has vowed to take measures to prevent multiple casting of votes by voters.

Eligible voters across the country totaled 32 million. Endit