1960 Burmese general election

1960 Burmese general election

←  1956 6 February 1960 1974  →
All 250 seats in the Chamber of Deputies 126 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader U Nu Kyaw Nyein & Ba Swe Party Clean AFPFL Stable AFPFL NUF Seats won 158 41 3 Seat change New New 45
Prime Minister before election Ne Win Military Prime Minister-elect U Nu AFPFL

General elections were held in Burma on 6 February 1960 to install a government to take over from General Ne Win's interim administration, established in October 1958. The military-led administration was credited for bringing stability and improving infrastructure in the country, though it suppressed some civil liberties. ^[1]

The elections were seen as not so much a contest between the Clean AFPFL of U Nu against the Stable AFPFL of Kyaw Nyein and Ba Swe, but a referendum on the policies of the interim military government between 1958 and 1960. ^[2] The result was a victory for the Clean AFPFL, which won 157 of the 250 seats in the Chamber of Deputies.

The elections set a precedent to other Middle Eastern and South Asian leaders, where the military voluntarily handed over to a civilian government and held free elections. ^[3] However, only two years after his election victory, U Nu was overthrown in a coup d'état led by General Ne Win on 2 March 1962.

Campaign

The Clean AFPFL, led by U Nu, and Stable AFPFL, led by U Kyaw Nyein and U Ba Swe, had been formed after a split in the main AFPFL party in June 1958. Until the military took over in October 1958, U Nu relied on the communists to retain a majority in parliament. ^[4]

Despite the formation of the two parties, there were no major ideological differences between them and their policies were similar, especially with regards to non-alignment, although the Stable faction favoured industrialisation and the Clean faction spoke more of agricultural development. ^[5] The Stable faction had given the impression it was favoured by the army, but, after realising the army was not as favoured as first thought, distanced itself. ^[5] It had also argued it represented stability. ^[6] Meanwhile, the "Clean" faction warned against the "dangers of fascist dictatorship", ^[7] and criticised the current leaders for their "drinking and womanising". ^[8] The communist NUF was severely repressed by the caretaker military government and was therefore outside the two main parties. ^[9]

The Clean AFPFL chose yellow to campaign, as it was the colour worn by monks, while the Stable AFPFL chose red and the National United Front chose blue. ^[7]

Conduct

An estimated 10,000,000 Burmese were eligible to vote. ^[10] The military largely stayed away on voting day, although it was present at some ballot boxes. Boxes for the "Clean" faction featured pictures of U Nu which the "Stable" faction and other smaller parties alleged confused the voter into thinking they were voting for Nu personally. ^[9] Polls closed at 6 pm and a crowd estimated at 20,000 gathered at the Sule Pagoda in the capital Rangoon to hear results as they were posted. ^[5] The "Clean" faction took all 9 seats in the capital including one they were prepared to concede, while the "Stable" faction had some strength in the countryside. ^[11]

Media coverage of the event was restricted to print media only and vigorously covered, but was largely ignored by the state-run Burma Broadcasting Service which had not aired opposition coverage since before the AFPFL split. ^[9]

Results

Voter turnout was the highest in a Burmese election. ^[12] U Nu, remarking on his victory, said "I guess people like us". ^[7]

Chamber of Deputies

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Clean AFPFL			158	New
	Stable AFPFL			41	New
	National United Front			3	–45
	Arakanese National Unity Organisation			6	0
	Shan State United Hill People's Organisation			6	–8
	Kachin National Congress			3	+1
	Mon National Front			3	New
	People's Educational and Cultural Development Organisation			2	–2
	Chin National Organisation			1	New
	Kayah National United League			1	New
	Kayah Democratic League			1	New
	All Nationalist Alliance			0	New
	All-Shan State Organisation			0	–4
	Buddhist Democratic Party			0	New
	Burma Democratic Party			0	0
	Burma Nationalist Party			0	–1
	Independents and other parties			10	–
Vacant				15	–
Total				250	0
Total votes		6,000,000	–
Registered voters/turnout		10,000,000	60.00
Source: Butwell & Von der Mehden, Nohlen et al.

Chamber of Nationalities

Party		Seats
	Clean AFPFL	53
	Stable AFPFL	29
	Minority parties	43
Total		125
Source: Nohlen et al.

References

1. Bigelow, Lee S (1960). "The 1960 Elections in Burma". Far Eastern Survey. 29 (5). Institute of Pacific Relations: 70–74. doi:10.2307/3024046. JSTOR   3024046.
2. Rotberg, Robert I (1998). Burma: prospects for a democratic future. Brookings Institution Press. p. 43. ISBN   978-0-8157-7581-2.
3. Butwell, Richard; von der Mehden, Fred (1960). "The 1960 Election in Burma". Pacific Affairs. 33 (2). Pacific Affairs, University of British Columbia: 144–157. doi:10.2307/2752941. JSTOR   2752941.
4. "General Ne Win bows out". The Glasgow Herald . 10 February 1960.
5. Grant, Bruce (8 February 1960). "All Asia is watching Burma's democratic election". The Age .
6. Associated Press (9 February 1960). "'Foes' of corruption win easily in Burma election". Herald-Journal.
7. Associated Press (10 February 1960). "U Nu victory changes trend". The Spokesman-Review .
8. Grant, Bruce (9 February 1960). "Burma states her policy". The Age .
9. Butwell, Richard (1960). "The new political outlook in Burma". Far Eastern Survey. 29 (2). Institute of Pacific Relations: 21–27. doi:10.2307/3024460. JSTOR   3024460.
10. United Press International (7 February 1960). "Burma voters cast ballots for deputies". St. Petersburg Times .
11. Associated Press (9 February 1960). "U Nu 'cleans' bidding for sweep in voting". Daytona Beach Morning Journal.
12. Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p603 ISBN   0-19-924958-X