PORTRAIT OF THE BURMESE PARLIAMENT

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3 0 4 PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIR!

PORTRAIT OF THE BURMESE PARLIAMENTby DR . M A U N O M A U N O

THE Union of Burma Parliament began its career inApril 1947 as a Constituent Assembly. The constitutionwas drafted in three busy months, adopted unanimouslyby the Assembly in September, and soon after by the BritishParliament, and the independence of Burma was inauguratedon 4th January, 1948.The men who assembled to draft the constitution were, asAung San1 the leader of the nation called them, "revolu-tionaries". Negotiations with the Labour Government inBritain for independence were proceeding and though therehad been promises and a solemn agreement signed by AungSan and Mr. Attlee in London in January 1947, the Burmesenationalists who gathered under the banner of the A.F .P.F.L .1and behind the leadership of Aung San thought they could notrelax. Thus Aung San, sweeping the country in whirlwindelectioneering tours asked the voters to send to the Assemblymen he and the A.F.P.F.L. had chosen. Many of the chosenmen w ere not the men who w ould normally find their way intoParliament, b ut they were "reliable" by certain standards, andthey were the people, Aung San said, who would fight for

independence if the constitutional processes failed. "Inde-pend ent" candidates and n ominees of splinter political partieswithdrew their candidature hastily in the face of Aung San'sfrank and forceful campaigning, or stayed onshowing signalcourage to get beaten at the polls. It was an A.F .P.F.L . land-slide: except for the commun al seats which went to A.F .P.F.L.supporters in any case, and seven seats won by the Comm unistparty, there were practically no "independent" candidateswho got into an Assembly of 255 seats.1 Aung San commanded the resistance force*, and organized theA.F .P.F.I1 ; he was atsastiiiated on 19th July, 1347.* Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League or the united front of partiesand resistance forces, ftil] in power after nine years of freedom.


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PORTRAIT OF THE BURMESE PARLIAMENT 3 0 5Those who assembled to draft the constitution were amixed crowd. There were young men in their early twentieswho had just left the resistance forces; there were young menwho had emerged from school and college at the commence-ment of the war and enterrd politics, now hardened "veterans".O f the older politicians there were few: men like Dr. Ba Maw 1and U Saw* preferred to stand aside in watchful waiting.Aung San himself was thirty-three which was even a littlehigher than th e average age of the Assembly.Much has happened since 1947. Aung San was murderedin his supreme ascendency by frustrated U Saw who himselfwas tried and condemned to die a felon's death. The revolu-tionary members who came to the Assembly sporting tatteredkhaki uniforms they had worn in the resistance forcestheSocialist members devised a uniform of their own consisting ofkhaki suit and green neck-tieor national dress made fromcoarse home-spun cloth, have changed beyond recognition.The uniforms have been discarded, and national dress com-plete with silk gaungbaung* is prescribed. M any of the membershave becom e M inisters, parliamentary secretaries or membersor chairmen of high-powered "boards" and comm issions, andthey have learned more, earned more and become comely anda little opulent and paunchy. The fire and urgency of therevolution are gone now and in their place have risen partydiscipline, ambition, and forms and procedure. But mdny ofthe members of the Constituent Assembly still remain in either

of the two C hambers,4 for the A .F.P.F .L. is still in power, andexpects to be, as its leader U Nu has always said, for anotherforty years.The revolution did come, however, though after and notbefore independence. Soon after the constitution was adopted,

1 Dr. Ba Mmw, fint Premier of Burma under the new constitution of1935, "Head of State" under Japanese occupation.* U Saw , another pre-war Prem ier, interned by British during war forcollaborating w ith the Japan ese, executed for murder of Aun g San.* gawubaau is a head-gear, not unlike the turban, worn by Burmesemen on formal occasions.* The Chamber of Deputies of 250 seats is the popular Chamber withpredominance in finanrjp] matters; the Chamber of Nationalities of 125seats a where the minorities together have a majority over the Burmans.


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2O 6 PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRSthe Communists who had joined in supporting it went intoarmed rebellion saying that the independence was false andthe Government was a stooge of the British and the"imperialists". Altogether forty-four members of Parliamentjoined the rebellion and had to be struck off the members' rollby the Speaker for continued absence without leave. Also, inthe elections of 1951 and 1952 1 some of the A.F.PJ.L.members lost their seats to a gathering Opposition. In therecent elections held in April 1956 there were more A.F .P.F.L.losses and some sixty-five Opp osition Deputies have found theirway into the popular Chamber. Sixty-five members in aChamber of 250 is not a big number but it is enough to keepthe A.F.P .F.L . members on their toes, and to shake their beliefthat they would be there in the Chamber for another fortyyears. Rebellion has torn the country and at its peak Parlia-ment remained a formality with the Government usingemergency powers and setting up military administration indisturbed areas.1 As normalcy was gradually restored, demo-cracy quickened again, and Parliament became the properforum of political controversy. Parties which had boycotted theelections now contest for the seats in real earnest EvenDr. Ba Maw's "Greater Burma" party has been contestingthough without success.

It used to be easy to become and remain a member ofParliament, To become one all one had to do was to get theA.F .P.F .L. ticket, which was not over difficult In the firstelections the central committee of the League was quite arbi-trary in picking its candidates, and some of them never camefrom the constituencies, nor ever went back to them after theelections. The voters were tolerant and those who raised anyquestions were given the stock answer that what was urgentwas not representation but revolution. The members whoassembled were given kyats 200* a month as salary and anallowance of k.20 per day for attendance during sessions. It

1 The elections were staggered and held regionally due to prevailingunrest in the country.* Between February 1949 and July 1950, twelve districts, out of thirty-tnree, came nn^^r military administration. * One kyat equals one shilling and sixpence.


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President of the Union, Dr. Ba U, addressing a joint session of the two Burmese Chambers.Ministers of the Cabinet o ccupy the front benches to his right, (su p. 204)

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, \ >-!..:' permission .>' ; ' . J .- ; \ \ ;o s & Information BureauThe opening ceremony of the nineteenth Parliament, Canb erra, (see p. 180)


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Inside the National Assembly, Ghana. H .R.H . Th e Duchess of Kent reading the Queen's speech grantingindependence to the Gold Coast, (seep, igs)


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The Prime Minister of Ghana, Dr. Kwama Nirumah, arriving at theAssembly Ho use, Accra, for the opening of the new P arliament.{sup. 195)


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PORTRAIT OF THE BURMESE PARLIAMENT 2 0 7was not a princely salary, nor were the members princes, butthe Assembly worked hard and most of the members servedon the m any comm ittees which were formed the main com-mittee for drafting the constitution had i n memb ers. Th esituation has changed now and it is no longer easy for one toget elected mainly on an A.F.P.F.L. ticket. To get that ticketitself has become difficult, because, for one thing, the oldmembers continue and there are few "vacancies", and foranother, the electorate has become more aware of its rightsand selective, and the A.F.P.F .L. central committee has had torestrict itself to picking from those na mes wh ich are put forwardby the con stituents.

Th e M .P. to-day gets k.300 per month plus the same La oper day for attending at sessions or serving on parliamentarycommittees. He also gets travelling allowances. The salary isinadequate and there have been murmurs among membersthat it should be increased, but no member has yet taken therisk of being branded as unpatriotic and mercenary in takingdefinite steps to get that done. Parliamentary life, however, isfairly easy. There are normally two sessions a year; once inAugust or Septemb er which is the budget session and generallylasts from three to four weeks. T he next session is in Februaryor March, a shorter session which deals with revised budgetsand malting laws or amending thi*m, During sessions too, theday is short, often lasting an hour or less. Members thereforehave am ple time to practise their' professions or run somebusiness to supplement fh^ir parliamentary incomes. Less thanhalf of the members are professional men or have independ entincomes, and most of the remaining members have to subsiston their salaries or wha t allowances they earn from serving ondifferent committees. In the districts specially the prestige ofthe M.P. is high and he is a ubiquitous man.

Women enjoy equal rights as men; they vote and they canstand for elections. A few of them have served in Parliament.Yet, it wou ld seem that parliamentary life does not agree withmost of them for the tendency is for women members todwindle in numbers. Those who have served and are servinghave shown wit and humour and ability, and more of them


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2O 8 PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRSwould only be an asset There was, to take an illustration, adebate in the Chamber of Deputies on the remnants of"feudalism" in th e Shan state, a constituent unit of the U nion ,which is supposed to be the stronghold of the hereditarychieftains. It was alleged by an Opposition member that if aChief's wife gave birth the "subjects" had to pay tribute inhum ble thankf^ iln^. At this a lady member, wife of Sao Shw eThaike who was Burma's first President, and now Speaker ofthe Chamber of Nationalities, a hereditary chieftain, inter-vened to inform the Chamber with first hand knowledge thatthat was incorrect. "I've been giving birth every year for manyyears," she said, "but never saw any of those tributes". Thedebate en ded in a roar of laughter.

Britain should be proud that Burma chose to adopt parlia-mentary democracy of the British pattern even though shedecided, rightly or wrongly, to leave the Commonwealth.Constitutional lawyers in Burma still refer to Westminster asthe Mother of "our Parliament". The rules of procedure inBurma are framed on the British model, and when questionssuch as those of procedure or privilege arise it is from ErskineMa y an d the British authorities on parliamentary practice th atguidance is sought During the 1956 Budget Session, a sensa-tional incident happened in the Chamber of Deputies. OneOpposition M .P., the police reported, had been in league withrebels and the Home Ministry decided to arrest and try him.The arrest, by some clumsy timing, was made at the premisesof the Chamber. In fact the Speaker announced the arrest onthe report of the Home Ministry while the member was stillin the Chamber participating in the day's proceedings. Therewas excitement and the member, surrounded and advised byother Opposition members, "took sanctuary" in the lobbythereby posing the question of privilege. A police officerpreceded by a man carrying the Speaker's maceto signifyhis consent to the arrestat last went to the lobby and tookthe member into custody. There was a hue and cry from theOpposition and the press that "parliamentary privilege" hadbeen violated, but once again on the authority of May andother British constitutional jurists the answer was given that


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PORTRAIT OF THE BURMESE PARLIAMENT 3OO.a member does not enjoy immunity from arrest for criminaloffences.Th e Burmese Parliament is not housed grandly but quietly.Th e deputies have a small building in the Secretariat, and theChamber of Nationalities has a floor at the Police Courts.Mem bers take their allotted seats and cerem onial is limited tothe Speaker's entry to start the day,, preceded by h is mace-bearer. In the Chamber of Deputies, which usually begins itsday at eleven in the morning, question time starts off theproceedings. The Chamber of Nationalities is even quieterthan the Deputies, meets less often and enjoys more leisurelydiscussion and debate. Ministers come from both Chambers.

With the growth of an Opposition in Parliament, thequality of debates and the general conduct of affairs areimproving. Even the Government's respect for Parliamentgrows, for whereas it used to take Parliament for granted, nowit treats it with some awe and respect. In a country wherepublic opinion has become somewhat apathetic or resignedfrom long years of suffering in war and civil strife, Parliamentis the one organ where whatever public opinion there is mustbe sharply reflected. That function, the Burmese Parliamentis now performing w ith increasing effectiveness.

PORTRAIT OF THE BURMESE PARLIAMENT

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