Members of the Burma Solidarity Philippines stage a protest on July 29, 2022 at the Boy Scout Circle in Quezon City to express their solidarity and support of democracy in Myanmar and denounce the killing by hanging of 4 pro-democracy activists. Jire Carreon, ABS-CBN News

Myanmar's military government will hold an election in December or January, state media reported on Saturday.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing said the votes will be "free and fair," according to the state-run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar.

Min added that 53 political parties had already "submitted their lists" to participate.

It will be the first election since the military toppled Myanmar's democratically elected government in a coup in February 2021.

Myanmar's conflict continues 4 years after coup

Myanmar has been in turmoil since Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was ousted.

Her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), had won the 2020 election, but the military accused the NLD leader of orchestrating widespread voter fraud.

"Due to electoral fraud in the 2020 general election, we had to declare a state of emergency and temporarily take responsibility for the country," Min was quoted as saying in the state-run newspaper on Saturday.

Myanmar junta frees 5,864 prisoners

During a meeting with Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko in Minsk, Min invited "observation teams from Belarus to come and observe" the slated election.

Long-promised general election

The junta leader has long pledged to hold fresh polls to restore civilian rule, but the ruling military repeatedly extended a state of emergency — the latest extension was announced in January.

The military takeover in February 2021 sparked a protest movement that has turned into an armed uprising against the junta across the Southeast Asian country.

ASEAN tells Myanmar to prioritize ceasefire over elections

Nearly 6,400 civilians have been killed since the coup with over 28,700 arrested, according to the latest figures from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) monitoring group.

Edited by Kieran Burke