1932 Burmese general election

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1932 Burmese general election
British Burma 1937 flag.svg
  1928 9 November 1932 1936  

80 seats in the Legislative Council
45 seats needed for a majority
  Ba Maw 1943.png 3x4.svg
Leader Ba Maw U Ba Pe
Alliance Anti-Separation League Separation League
Seats won3929

Viceroy before election

The Marquess of Linlithgow

Chief Minister

Ba Maw
Anti-Separation League

General elections were held in Burma on 9 November 1932, [1] having originally been planned for 29 October. [2] The election was held almost solely on the issue of whether Burma should separate from India, [3] as the British government had indicated that it would take the outcome of the elections as an indication of Burmese opinion. [4] Prior to the elections many of the major parties joined either the Anti-Separation League or the Separation League.

Contents

Despite expectations that the separationists would win, [3] [1] the Anti-Separation League won a majority of seats. However, the anti-separationists were not in favour of maintaining the union with India, but instead called for a better constitution for a separate Burma. [5] They rejected the constitution proposed by the prime minister following the Burma Round-Table Conference, but also rejected the permanent federation with India, and declared they would enter the Indian Federation, but with the right to withdraw. [6]

Campaign

A total of 207 candidates contested the elections; [1] the People's Party headed by U Ba Pe, part of the Separation League, put forward 54, whilst the Independent Party of Joseph Augustus Maung Gyi had 49. [1] Within the Anti-Separation League, the Maw-Myint-Bye Party of Ba Maw and the party led by Chit Hlaing participated in the elections. [7] [8]

The Anti-Separation League was well-funded by Indian commercial interests concerned about potential separation, and was backed by Buddhist monks, [9] who the Separation League sought to ban from politics. [4] By contrast, the Separation League was poorly funded and had little widespread support. [4]

Results

Within the Anti-Separation League the Maw-Myint-Bye Party won the most seats, whilst the People's Party emerged as the largest within the Separation League. [7] The Times noted that the surprise defeat of the separationists was caused by "wild stories" that the country would become a "white man's paradise and home to the British unemployed, that taxation would be heavily increased, even dogs and poultry would be taxed; and that the Buddhist religion would be ruined". [5]

PartySeats
Anti-Separation League 42
Separation League 29
Neutrals9
Total80
Source: Haruhiro Fukui [10]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Separation Issue In Burma To-Day's Election": The Times, 9 November 1932, p11, Issue 46286
  2. "Burmese Election In October: Separation Finance", The Times, 9 August 1932, p9, Issue 46207
  3. 1 2 "Separation Issue In Burma Buddhist Monk's Appeal", The Times, 10 September 1932, p9, Issue 46235
  4. 1 2 3 Haruhiro Fukui (1985) Political parties of Asia and the Pacific, Greenwood Press, p148
  5. 1 2 "Burma Election: An Anti-Separation Majority", The Times, 16 November 1932, p14, Issue 46292
  6. "The New Constitution: Separation from India", The Times, 20 April 1937, p36, Issue 47663
  7. 1 2 "Burmese Election Anti-Separationists Decline Office", The Times, 18 November 1932, p13, Issue 46294
  8. "Deadlock In Burma Office Declined By Parties", The Times, 19 November 1932, p9; Issue 46295
  9. Fukui, pp113–114
  10. Fukui, pp106–154