The change is a telling concession to the challenges that the military faces in holding a “nationwide” election in the midst of the country’s ongoing conflict. Myanmar’s military administration has again tweaked its election rules, loosening the criteria for parties wishing to compete in the junta’s controversial election at the end of the year. The amendment has lowered this threshold to a quarter of total seats, down from half. The junta now appears set on holding elections in several phases over December and January. In July, the junta added a new clause to Section 12(a) of the Political Parties Registration Law, stating that a political party can lose its registration if the Union Election Commission deems it to have “cheated” or done something illegal during the election.