The Independent Party, also known as the Golden Valley Party,Maung Maung (2012) ''Burma's Constitution'', Springer Science & Business Media, p29 was a pro-British political party 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 ...

during the 1920s and 1930s. Its leadership included

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 ...

U Khin U, or u, is the twenty-first letter and the fifth vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet and the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''u'' (pronounced ) ...

and

U May Oung U, or u, is the twenty-first letter and the fifth vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet and the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''u'' (pronounced ) ...

Oscar de Glanville Sir Oscar James Lardner de Glanville, CIE, OBE (2 April 1867 – 1942) was an Irish-born barrister and political figure in British Burma who served twice as President of the Legislative Council of Burma. Biography Born in Donnybrook, Dublin ...

was also a party leader.

History

The party was established as the Progressive Party in 1922, evolving from the senior faction of the

Young Men's Buddhist Association The YMBA, or Young Men's Buddhist Association, was created in Sri Lanka in 1898. The main founder was C. S. DissanayakeHuman Rights Watch (2009)''The Resistance of the Monks: Buddhism and Activism in Burma'' p. 12. as part of a bid to provide Bud ...

, whose members were conservative, western-educated and willing to accept the colonial system of government.Haruhiro Fukui (1985) ''Political parties of Asia and the Pacific'', Greenwood Press, pp133−134 Although the 1922 general elections saw the

21 Party The 21 Party () was a political party in Burma in the 1920s led by U Ba Pe. History The party was formed in 1922 following a split in the General Council of Burmese Associations (GCBA). The GCBA had planned to boycott the local and national el ...

emerge as the largest party in 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 ...

, its leader Ba Pe refused to form a government with the Golden Valley Party, allowing Maung Gyi to head the new government.Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
The Irrawaddy, 3 November 2009 In 1925 the party was renamed the Independent Party,Sen, p27 also becoming known as the Golden Valley Party (''Shwe Taung Gyar'') in reference to the upper-class suburbs in which its leaders lived, but was not formally organised, nor had any popular support. The elections later that year (in which it won 20 of the 80 seats) and

1928 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1928. Africa * 1928 Southern Rhodesian general election Asia * 1928 Japanese general election * 1928 Persian legislative election * 1928 Philippine House of Representatives elections * 1928 Philippine ...

(12 seats) ended with the same outcome due to favouritism by the British authorities. The party contested the

1932 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1932. Asia * 1932 Japanese general election Europe * 1932 Irish general election * 1932 Swedish general election * 1932 Estonian parliamentary election * 1932 French legislative election * 1932 Belgian ...

calling for the separation of Burma from India, but were defeated by the anti-separatists, who won a landslide;

Ba Maw Ba Maw (, ; 8 February 1893 – 29 May 1977), known honorifically as Dr. Ba Maw, was a Burmese lawyer and politician, active during the interwar period and Second World War. He was the first Burma Premier (1937–1939) and head of State of Bu ...

of the Maw-Myint-Bye Party became Chief Minister. It failed to win a seat in the 1936 elections.

References

{{Burmese political parties Defunct political parties in Myanmar