The Legislative Council of Burma was the legislative body of British Burma from 1897 to 1936.

Establishment

It was established in 1897 as an advisory council to the British colonial governor, the Lieutenant-Governor of Burma, in drafting legislation for

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. The Legislative Council was initially an appointed body, established as a nine-member council consisting of four officials and five nominated non-officials. Its membership, which increased from nine to thirty members, predominantly represented foreign commercial interests. Prior to its establishment, Burmese laws were made in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, whereby laws drafted by the local administration in Burma were submitted to the Legislative Council of India for approval. After the passage of such laws, they were consented to by the Governor-General-in-Council and put into effect through publication within the Burma Gazette.

Restructuring

On 2 January 1923, with the enactment of the

Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms The Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms or more briefly known as the Mont–Ford Reforms, were introduced by the colonial government to introduce self-governing institutions gradually in British India. The reforms take their name from Edwin Montagu, th ...

(which granted British India

dyarchy Diarchy (from Greek , ''di-'', "double", and , ''-arkhía'', "ruled"),Occasionally misspelled ''dyarchy'', as in the ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' article on the colonial British institution duarchy, or duumvirate (from Latin ', "the office of ...

constitution, giving Burma a limited measure of self-rule), the Council was recast as a partially elected body. The new Legislative Council consisted of 103 seats, 80 filled by election, 8 by nomination of non-officials, 13 by nomination of officials, and 2 by members of the Governor's Executive Council ex-officio. The 80 elected seats were divided as follows: 22 to urban constituencies in 8 towns, with 8 of them to the

Burmese Indian Burmese Indians are a group of people of Indian origin who live in Myanmar (Burma). The term 'Burmese Indian' refers to a broad range of people from South Asia, most notably from present-day countries such as India, Bangladesh and also Pakis ...

community; 49 to rural constituencies in 31 districts, with 5 to the Karen; and the remaining given to special constituencies like

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and various chambers of commerce. Elections were held in

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éireann, the day after Éamon de Valera ...

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Itali ...

and

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhan ...

. Burmese nationalists, organized by the

General Council of Burmese Associations The General Council of Burmese Associations (GCBA), also known as the Great Burma Organisation ( my, မြန်မာအသင်းချုပ်ကြီး; ''Myanma Ahthinchokgyi''), was a political party in Burma. History The GCBA was for ...

, boycotted elections to the Legislative Council, and under 7% of the electorate voted in the 1922 elections. Turnout continued to be low: just over 16% in 1925, and 18% in 1928.

Presidents of Legislative Council

References

{{Authority control Legislatures of Myanmar History of Myanmar Organizations established in 1897 Defunct unicameral legislatures 1897 establishments in the British Empire