The Poor Man's Party (; also known as the Sinyetha or Proletarian) was a 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 ...

led by

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 ...

History

The party was formed in 1935 in order to contest the 1936 general elections, one of numerous parties in the 1920s and 1930s that had grown out of the

General Council of Burmese Associations The General Council of Burmese Associations (GCBA), also known as the Great Burma Organisation (; ''Myanma Ahthinchokgyi''), was a political party in Burma. History The GCBA was formed at the 1920 conference of the Young Men's Buddhist Associat ...

.Haruhiro Fukui (1985) ''Political parties of Asia and the Pacific'', Greenwood Press, pp149–150 It aimed to appeal to the peasantry, calling for reductions in rents and tax, elections for village heads, state-provided credit for farmers and the buy-back of foreign-owned agricultural land. Although the party only won 16 of the 132 seats in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

in the elections, Ba Maw was able to form a government, although reaching agreement with other parties required him to abandon much of the party's manifesto. Following the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the party merged with the

Dobama Asiayone Dobama Asiayone ( , ; ), better known as Thakins ( , ; ), was a Burmese nationalist group formed around the 1930s and composed of young, disgruntled intellectuals. Drawing their name from the way in which the British were addressed during colon ...

to form the

Freedom Bloc The Freedom Bloc, later known as Dobama-Sinyetha Asiayone, was a political party in Burma during World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two ...

.Fukui, pp128–129

References

{{Burmese political parties Defunct political parties in Myanmar Political parties established in 1935 Socialist parties in Myanmar 1935 establishments in Burma