1936 Burmese general election

General elections were held in Burma on 26 November 1936. The Government of Burma Act 1935 separated Burma from British India as of 1 April 1937, and created a 36-seat Senate and a 132-seat House of Representatives. The pro-constitution United GCBA of U Ba Pe emerged as the largest bloc in the House of Representatives, winning 46 seats. However, few parties were willing to work with U Ba Pe, and the Governor invited Ba Maw to form a government, despite his Poor Man's Party winning only 16 seats. Maw became Chief Minister after forming a coalition with Chit Hlaing and other "moderate extremists".

1936 Burmese general election

26 November 1936
132 seats in the House of Representatives 67 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader U Ba Pe Ba Maw Chit Hlaing Party United GCBA Poor Man's Party Hlaing-Myat-Paw GCBA Seats won 46 16 12
Viceroy before election The Marquess of Linlithgow Chief Minister Ba Maw Poor Man's Party

Electoral system

The 132 seats in House of Representatives consisted of 91 members elected in single-member non-communal constituencies and 41 members elected from reserved seats. However, large areas of the country in the north and east including the Shan States remained directly governed by the Governor and did not elect members of the House. Half of the 36 seats in the Senate were appointed by the Governor, whilst the remaining half were elected by members of the House of Representatives.

Seat type	Number
General constituencies	91
Karen constituencies	12
Urban Indian constituencies	8
Burma Chamber of Commerce constituency	5
European constituency	3
Anglo-Burman constituency	2
Burma Indian Chamber of Commerce constituency	2
Indian Labour constituencies	2
Non-Indian Labour constituencies	2
Burmese Chamber of Commerce constituency	1
Chinese Chamber of Commerce constituency	1
Nattukottai Chettyar's Association constituency	1
Rangoon Trades Association constituency	1
Rangoon University constituency	1
Total	132

Campaign

Several of the reserved seats were uncontested, including Bassein North (Karen), Mandalay Indian Urban, the three-member European constituency, the Burmese Chamber of Commerce seat, the Nakkukottai Chettyar's Association seat, the five-member Burma Chamber of Commerce constituency, the Rangoon Trades Association seat and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce seat.

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	United GCBA			46
	Poor Man's Party			16
	Hlaing-Myat-Paw GCBA			12
	Komin Kochin Aphwe			3
	Fabian Party			0
	Independent Party			0
	Independents			14
Karen reserved seats				12
Commercial reserved seats		521		11
Indian reserved seats		31,596		8
European reserved seats				3
Indian Labour reserved seats		19,546		2
Non-Indian Labour reserved seats		8,747		2
Anglo-Burman reserved seat		9,050		2
Rangoon University reserved seat		200		1
Total				132
Source: Singh, Cady

Aftermath

Despite winning the most seats, the United GCBA was unable to form a government as the party began to split soon after the elections. This allowed the Poor Man's Party to put together a coalition government which took power in March 1937; it included former People's Party member U Pu, U Paw Tun from the Hlaing-Myat-Paw GCBA, Saw Pe Tha from the Karen group and U Htoon Aung Gyaw from the Arakanese. Poor Man's Party MPs U Tharrawaddy Maung Maung and Thein Maung were also appointed to the cabinet, whilst Chit Hlaing became Speaker of the House. The government also gained support from the commercial MPs, many of the Poor Man's Party's more radical campaign promises were dropped.