"The NLD has appointed a group of what it called “town elders” in every township to select its candidates for the November elections. In a statement released on June 16, the 30 political parties objected to the use of “town elders” and called on the NLD to stop using it. They also urged the UEC to order the NLD to stop using the term in election campaign materials. Among those that signed the statement were the opposition Union Solidarity Development Party, New National Democracy Party, National Unity Party (NUP), National Development Party, Democratic Party (Myanmar), and National Democratic Force. "They use ‘town elders’ to promote the party,” said U Thein Nyunt, chair of New National Democracy Party. The November polls will be a crucial test of the public’s trust and confidence in Daw Aung Suu Kyi and the NLD, which has ruled the country since its landslide electoral win in 2015, the first free elections in the country after more than a half-century of military rule. The State Counsellor and President U Win Myint will lead the NLD in this year’s political battle. Myanmar’s political scene burst into life last week after the UEC announced that the elections would proceed as scheduled in November despite the COVID-19 pandemic..."