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 Decrease45

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.

  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.