"U Thein Htun Oo, spokesperson of the USDP, said that while the party has not yet picked its candidates, there is a chance the party leaders would throw their hats in the ring. "It’s very likely,” he said, “but that's just my opinion.” On June 9, a spokesman of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) said State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint will join the party’s candidates in the elections. Many see the November vote as a referendum on the NLD’s performance over the past five years, and as a major test of the State Counsellor’s ability to lead her party to victory despite heavy criticism by the international community over her handling of the humanitarian crisis in Rakhine State. Some foreign and local observers have said the NLD would be hampered by its poor handling of the economy. The 2015 elections were the first free elections in the country after more than half a century of military rule. The NLD won by a landslide, winning 390 seats in the Amyotha Hluttaw (Upper House) and Pyithu Hluttaw (Lower House), while the USDP won 117 seats. The USDP was set up by former military commander-in-chief and junta leader U Than Shwe to replace the discredited State Peace and Development Council. The council’s first secretary, U Thein Sein, led the USDP and was appointed president of the country in 2010. Thein Sein launched economic and political reforms that led to the 2015 elections. After its second-place finish in 2015, the party was overhauled and is now led by U Than Htay, a retired army brigadier general who was minister of Rail Transportation, minister of Energy and deputy minister of Energy in the U Thein Sein government. U Thein Tun Oo said that besides not yet choosing its candidates for November, the USDP has yet to decide which constituencies it will contest..."