"Burmocracy"

One political party in Burma defines its aims as "burmocracy," i.e., a government strictly Burmese in nature. The term might well be used to describe Burmese politic"? in general. Last week Burma began voting in its first general election since it gained independence three years ago, and the proceedings were strictly Burmese.

Because guerrilla warfare continued throughout the nation, voting would last several months, with polling booths to be set up whenever and wherever the fighting stopped for a while. The rice-rich country (which Red China would like to gobble up) has more than a dozen clashing political parties, at least two of which (the Stalinist White Flag Communists, the Trotskyite Red Flag Communists) are still in armed rebellion against the government. Besides, thousands of Karen tribesmen are waging guerrilla war against government forces. Legal opposition parties run the gamut from the frankly pro-Russian Workers & Peasants Party to the pro-British Burma Union Party, which advocates a return to the Commonwealth. Somewhere between stands Premier Thakin* Nu's Anti-Fascist People's Friendship League, a vaguely socialist group whose declared aim is "stability."

Last week, Premier Thakin Nu, a devout Buddhist, whom Burmese call "the man with the rosary" because he daily prays for peace, once more called for a halt to the "evil cult" of gun rule. In Rangoon, jeeps and Studebakers owned by Thakin Nu's partisans hustled voters through the driving rain to polling booths. Voting proceeded smoothly. The only untoward incident: in four of Rangoon's 106 polling places, poll watchers threw out all ballots because of a technical oversight--election officials had failed to stamp them with the required rhinoceros seal./-

A determined opposition, led by onetime cabinet Minister Thakin Ba Sein did what it could to muster votes. But it seemed certain that Premier Thakin Nu and his candidates would win. Said one local pundit: "The government has many defects and some fellows in it are darned mischievous, but what about opposition? Their history sheets don't give good accounts of them, so we will choose the lesser evil."

Burma's future seemed sure to continue essentially burmocratic.

* Meaning master. The term, like sahib in India, was once generally used to describe Burma's British overlords. When the British left, almost every self-respecting Burman promptly assumed the title for himself.

/- The rhinoceros has no political significance. It was chosen as an identifying symbol because rhinoceroses are rare in Burma and hence presumably hard to duplicate. That, anyway, is how the Burmans reckon.

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