The Union Party () was the ruling 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 ...

in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Formed by a split in the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League, it was initially known as the Clean Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (Clean AFPFL) or Nu-Tin faction.

History

The party was formed in June 1958 when the AFPFL split in two following internal disputes that had intensified since its January congress;Haruhiro Fukui (1985) ''Political parties of Asia and the Pacific'', Greenwood Press, p115 One group was led by

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

U Nu Nu (; ; 25 May 1907 – 14 February 1995), commonly known as Burmese names#Honorifics, U Nu and also by the honorific name Thakin Nu, was a prominent Burmese people, Burmese statesman and the first Prime Minister of Union of Burma. He was ...

, which he named the "Clean AFPFL"; the other was led by Kyaw Nyein and Ba Swe and became known as the Stable AFPFL. The Clean faction was occasionally referred to as the Nu-Tin faction, referring to its other leader Thakin Tin, and contained several groups from different political streams, including the

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 ...

Pongyi Kyaung faction of the Burma Socialist Party and conservative commercial interest groups.Fukui, pp126–127 Although the Stable faction was supported by the larger group of AFPFL members 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 ...

, U Nu was able to continue as Prime Minister due to support from the National United Front and some of the independent MPs. However, the dispute between the two factions continued to worsen and in September 1958 the Army brokered a compromise, taking power with a government headed by

Ne Win Ne Win (; ; 24 May 1911 – 5 December 2002), born Shu Maung (; ), was a Burmese army general, politician and Prime Minister of Burma from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1974, and also President of Burma from 1962 to 1981. Ne Win was Burma's mili ...

until elections were held eighteen months later. In the 1960 elections campaign the Clean AFPFL promised increased autonomy for the

Mon Mon, MON or Mon. may refer to: Places * Mon State, a subdivision of Myanmar * Mon, India, a town in Nagaland * Mon district, Nagaland * Mon, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India * Mon, Switzerland, a village in the Canton of Grisons * A ...

and Rakhine minorities, and that

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

would become the state religion, gaining it support from the Buddhist clergy. It received 57% of the vote, winning 158 of the 250 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 53 of the 125 seats in the Chamber of Nationalities,

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, p616 allowing U Nu to return as Prime Minister. Following the elections, it adopted the Union Party name. In 1962 U Nu's government was overthrown by a

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

led by Ne Win. In 1964, Ne Win's

Burma Socialist Programme Party The Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) was the ruling party of Burma (now Myanmar) from 1962 to 1988 and the country's sole legal party from 1964 to 1988. Party chairman Ne Win overthrew the country's democratically elected government i ...

became the sole legal political party.

References

{{Burmese political parties 1958 establishments in Burma Defunct political parties in Myanmar Political parties established in 1958 Socialist parties in Myanmar