AKIPRESS.COM - Myanmar's military-backed government has promised that elections will go ahead as scheduled on November 8, rejecting a proposal to postpone the vote, just as the main opposition party led by Aung San Suu Kyi appears headed for an historic victory, Sydney Morning Herald said.

The move by the country's election commission on Tuesday to postpone the vote triggered a protest from Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), which is confident of winning at least 67 percent of the vote to be able to control parliament.

But the government later issued a statement saying "after reviewing the pros and cons of a possible election postponement, the election commission has decided the election will be held as planned on November 8".

Election commission official Tin Aye earlier cited flooding in areas of the country in June and July as the reason for proposing the delay. He told representatives of ten parties who were summoned to the capital, Naypyitaw on Tuesday he was concerned the affected areas may not be ready to accommodate voters by November 8.

Win Htein, a senior member of Ms Suu Kyi's party, who was at the meeting, said only the NLD opposed a postponement which was backed by the governing Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).