Burmese general election, 1951–52

Burmese general election, 1951–52

June 1951 – April 1952

All 250 seats in the Chamber of Deputies 126 seats needed for a majority Turnout 18.75%   First party Second party   Leader U Nu Party AFPFL PDF Seats won 147 19 Seat change 26 New

Prime Minister before election U Nu AFPFL Prime Minister-elect U Nu AFPFL

General elections were held in Burma over several months between June 1951 and April 1952 due to internal conflict within the country.^[1][2]

The first elections since independence, they saw the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL) win 60% of the vote and 199 out of 250 seats. Voter turnout was low at 20%, as only 1.5 million voters out of an eligible 8 million participated.^[3] It was the lowest turnout for a Burmese election since the 1920s boycotts in colonial Burma.^[1]

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League and allies^[a]			199	+26
People's Democratic Front^[b]			19	New
Independent Arakanese Parliamentary Group			6	New
Greater Burma Party			0	New
People's Peace Front			0	New
Union of Burma League			0	New
United Chin Freedom League			0	New
Independents			15	13
Vacant	–	–	11	–
Invalid/blank votes		–	–	–
Total	1,500,000	100	250	40
Registered voters/turnout	8,000,000	18.75	–	–
Source: Nohlen et al.

^a AFPFL allies included the Burma Socialist Party, the All-Burma Peasants Organisation, the Burma Muslim Congress, the Kachin National Congress (7 seats), the Union Karen League (13), the Chin Hills Congress, the United Hill People's Congress, the All-Burma Women's Freedom League and the All-Burma Federation of Trade Organisations, the Arakanese Muslim Association (3).^[4][5]

^b The People's Democratic Front was an alliance of the Burma Workers and Peasants Party (12 seats), the Patriotic Alliance and the Burma Democratic Party.^[5]

References

1. Taylor, Robert H. (1996). The Politics of elections in Southeast Asia. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-521-56443-4.
2. Hoffmann, Mark S (1954). World almanac and book of facts, Volume 69. Newspaper Enterprise Association. p. 338.
3. Rotberg, Robert I (1998). Burma: prospects for a democratic future. Brookings Institution Press. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-8157-7581-2.
4. Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p614 ISBN 0-19-924958-X
5. Haruhiro Fukui (1985) Political parties of Asia and the Pacific, Greenwood Press, pp106–154