Yangon, July 8 (IANS): Myanmar will hold multi-party general elections on November 8, Union Election Commission sources said on Wednesday.

A formal announcement will be made later in the day, the sources said, adding that a meeting on the election was underway, Xinhua news agency reported.

The upcoming elections will choose representatives to the next term of parliament, which will form a new government with a five-year term next year.

The commission, which is compiling the basic voters list for the elections, has designated a total of 1,171 constituencies across the country for the vote at four levels of parliament representatives with 330 constituencies set for election of the House of Representatives (lower house), 168 constituencies for the House of Nationalities (upper house), 644 constituencies for regional or state parliaments and 29 constituencies for regional or state parliaments for national races.

Political parties taking part in the elections are expected to be announced later.

The commission said it would invite international observers to monitor the polls, but they would be restricted to designated areas.

The current term of the government, which began March 2011, will expire in March 2016.