The leader of the United Democratic Party (UDP), a party fielding the second-highest number of candidates for Myanmar's November elections has been arrested, AP reported.

Government spokesperson Zaw Htay said the charge was related to Kyaw Myint's escape in the late 1990s from prison, where he was serving a 10-year sentence for a business law offense.

Despite the arrest of Kyaw Myint, another executive of the UDP said it will carry on campaigning.

The party is fielding 1,131 candidates for the 8 November polls, second only to the National League for Democracy, but has not won a single seat in the last two elections, the AP report said.