1922 Burmese general election
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80 of the 103 seats in the Legislative Council | ||
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Turnout | 6.9% | |
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General elections were held in
Electoral system
The
All citizens over the age of 18 were enfranchised as long as they met certain requirements.
Candidates had to be aged 25 or over.[4]
Campaign
The election was contested by moderates and radical nationalists.[2] Whilst the moderates aimed to change the system from within, the nationalists campaigned for separation from India and home rule.[2] The General Council of Burmese Associations called for a boycott of the election, although one faction formed the 21 Party to contest it.
Candidates were accused of selling out to the British authorities, and voters were intimidated by campaigners calling for a boycott and nationalist monks.[2] Of the 80 elected seats, 24 were uncontested.[1] For the remaining seats there were 162 candidates.[1]
Results
The
Aftermath
Following the elections, the Progressive Party gained in strength as several of members representing communal or commercial seats had joined it.[7] Governor Harcourt Butler formed a mixed cabinet, including members of both parties; U Maung Gyee of the 21 Party was appointed Minister for Education, Local Government and Public Health, whilst Joseph Augustus Maung Gyi of the Progressive Party became Minister for Agriculture, Excise Control and Forests. In addition, U Maung Kin was appointed Minister of Home Affairs.[8] The other cabinet members were the Governor and a civil servant as Minister of Financial Affairs.[9]
When U Maung Kin died in 1924 he was replaced by U May Oung, and later in the year Joseph Maung Gyi was made a High Court judge and was replaced by U Pu.[8]
References
- ^ a b c d "News in Brief", The Times, 23 November 1922, p9, Issue 43196
- ^ a b c d e f g The Ghost of Elections Past[permanent dead link] Irrawaddy Media, 31 May 2010
- ^ a b Ganga Singh (1940) Burma Parliamentary Companion, British Burma Press, p38
- ^ a b c d e "New Constitution For Burma. Wide Franchise", The Times, 31 May 1922. p9, Issue 43045
- ^ Hugh Trinker (1990) South Asia: a short history University of Hawaii Press, p195
- ^ Haruhiro Fukui (1985) Political parties of Asia and the Pacific, Greenwood Press, p151
- ^ a b Nirmal Chandra Sen (1945) A peep into Burma politics, Kitabistan
- ^ a b John F Cady (1958) A history of modern Burma, Cornell University Press, p246
- ^ Maung Htin Aung (1967) A history of Burma, Columbia University Press, p288