Elections to the Legislative Council were held in

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 ...

on 17 November 1925. Under the terms of the

dyarchy Diarchy (from Greek , ''di-'', "double", and , ''-arkhía'', "ruled"),Occasionally spelled ''dyarchy'', as in the ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' article on the colonial British institution duarchy, or duumvirate. is a form of government charact ...

constitution, the

Legislative Council of Burma 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 legisla ...

was advisory to the British colonial governor, and had some direct authority over education, local government, public health, agriculture and forests. The Nationalist Party received the most votes, but was unable to form a government as the British authorities favoured the Independent Party, who formed a government led by

Joseph Augustus Maung Gyi Sir Joseph Augustus Maung Gyi (; 12 December 1871 – 9 March 1955) was a Burmese barrister, judge, politician and administrator who served as the Acting Governor of British Burma during the tenure of Charles Alexander Innes, who was away on sic ...

.Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
The Irrawaddy, 3 November 2009

Electoral system

The

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

had 103 members, of which 80 were elected; 58 "non-communal" seats elected by a common roll, and 24 "communal" seats reserved for ethnic minorities (eight for Indians, five for Karens, one European and one

Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people are a distinct minority group, minority community of mixed-race British and Indian ancestry. During the colonial period, their ancestry was defined as British paternal and Indian maternal heritage; post-independence, "Angl ...

) and business groups (two for the Burma Chamber of Commerce, and one each for the Burmese Chamber of Commerce, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, the Indian Chamber of Commerce, the Rangoon Trades Association and Rangoon University).Ganga Singh (1940) ''Burma Parliamentary Companion'', British Burma Press, p38 A further 21 seats were appointed by the Governor (a maximum of 14 of which could be government officials) and there were also two ''ex officio'' members, the two members of the Executive Council of the Governor.

Campaign

The Burmese branch of the

Swaraj Party The Swaraj Party, established as the Congress-Khilafat Swaraj Party, was a political party formed in India on 1 January 1923 after the Gaya annual conference in December 1922. Chauri Chaura The Swaraj Party was formed on 1 January 1923 by Indi ...

led by Toke Gyi put forward 20 candidates."Elections In Burma. Grouping Of Parties", ''The Times'', 13 November 1925, p11, Issue 44118 The Independent Party had 85 candidates, whilst there were 49 Nationalist Party candidates running.

Results

The Swaraj Party performed poorly, with Toke Gyi defeated in his constituency."News in Brief", ''The Times'', 25 November 1925, p15, Issue 44128 Voter turnout was just 16%, although this marked an increase on the turnout of 6.9% in the 1922 elections.The Ghost of Elections Past
The Irrawaday, 31 May 2010 This was put down to the success of elected politicians in amending controversial laws during their period in office, as well as an increase in the number of political parties.

References

{{Burmese elections

Elections in Myanmar 1925 in Burma Burmese Election and referendum articles with incomplete results