The People's Democratic Front (PDF) was a

political alliance A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller political parties, who a ...

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

History

The People's Democratic Front was formed by

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

politicians in 1951 in order to oppose the ruling

Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League The Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL) was a broad popular front that ruled Burma (now Myanmar) between 1947 and 1958. It included both political parties and trade unions as members. The league evolved out of the anti-Japanese res ...

(AFPFL).Haruhiro Fukui (1985) ''Political parties of Asia and the Pacific'', Greenwood Press, pp144–145 Its members included the

Burma Workers and Peasants Party The Burma Workers Party, until 1958 the Burma Workers and Peasants Party, was a communist party in Burma, formed on 8 December 1950 by leftist elements of the Socialist Party. In December 1962 it merged with the People's Comrade Party to form ...

, the

Patriotic Alliance The Patriotic Alliance (PA) is a right-wing political party in South Africa, formed in November 2013 by, among others, businessmen and convicted criminals Gayton McKenzie and Kenny Kunene. Since 2024, it is a part of the current South African ...

, the

Burma Democratic Party The Burma Democratic Party (; BDP) was a political party in Burma. History The party was established by Dobama Asiayone founder U Ba Sein in the early 1950s.Haruhiro Fukui (1985) ''Political parties of Asia and the Pacific'', Greenwood Press, ...

and the Burma Trades Union Congress.

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...

, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p614 The PDF won 19 of the 250 seats in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

in the 1951–52 general elections, emerging as the main opposition to the AFPFL, which had won 199 seats. In 1955 it was succeeded by the

National United Front The National United Front () was a political alliance in Myanmar. History The alliance was formed in 1955 as a successor to the People's Democratic Front, ahead of the April 1956 general elections. The NUF consisted of leftist parties such as ...

alliance.

References

{{Burmese political parties Defunct political party alliances in Myanmar 1951 establishments in Burma Political parties established in 1951 1955 disestablishments in Burma Political parties disestablished in 1955 Defunct left-wing political party alliances