Burmese general election, 1960

← 1956

6 February 1960

1974 →

All 250 seats in the Chamber of Deputies
126 seats needed for a majority

Turnout

66.0%

	First party	Second party	Third party

Leader	U Nu	Kyaw Nyein & Ba Swe (pictured)
Party	Clean AFPFL	Stable AFPFL	NUF
Seats won	158	41	3
Seat change	New	New	45
Popular vote	3,153,934	1,694,052	262,199
Percentage	57.2	30.7	4.8

Prime Minister before election

Ne Win
Military

Prime Minister-elect

U Nu
AFPFL

Ne Win
Military

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.

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. 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 voluntary handed over to a civilian government and held free elections. However, only two years after his election victory, Nu was overthrown by a coup d'état led by General Ne Win on 2 March 1962.

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.

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. 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. It had also argued it represented stability. Meanwhile, the "Clean" faction warned against the "dangers of fascist dictatorship", and criticised the current leaders for their "drinking and womanising". The communist NUF was severely repressed by the caretaker military government and was therefore outside the two main parties.

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Wikipedia