"The ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) on Thursday unveiled its candidate list for the upcoming election. The lineup consists largely of the party’s sitting lawmakers and current chief ministers, but also includes more women than in 2015 and two Muslim candidates. Myanmar will hold a general election on Nov. 8. With less than three months to go before the election, the party announced its list of candidates on Thursday afternoon, right after finalizing its selections. Of the more than 1,000 candidates listed by the party, 80 percent are sitting lawmakers who won parliamentary seats in the previous general election held in 2015. The NLD won a sweeping victory in 2015, defeating the then ruling, military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and taking office in 2016. In a video message to the selected candidates, NLD Chairwoman Daw Aung San Suu Kyi acknowledged on Thursday that there were few new faces on the list of candidates. Based on the lessons it has learned since the 1990 election, she said, the party prioritized “loyalty” and “experience” when selecting candidates. “We look at the applicants’ loyalty to the party’s policies,” she said. “We pay special attention to those who will faithfully support the aspiration of democratic federalism and who will walk along with us [in the long term].” Party Vice Chairman Dr. Zaw Myint Maung said on Thursday that 20 percent of sitting NLD lawmakers who had performed poorly in Parliament and had not adhered strictly to party discipline and implementing party policies were excluded from the candidate list. All current state and regional chief ministers except Yangon’s U Phyo Min Thein were re-selected to run in the election. U Phyo Min Thein has previously said he won’t run in the election due to poor health..."