National United Front

TheNational United Front(Burmese:အမျိုးသား ညီညွတ်ရေး တပ်ပေါင်းစု) was apolitical allianceinMyanmar.

History

The alliance was formed in 1955 as a successor to thePeople's Democratic Front,ahead of theApril 1956 general elections.The NUF consisted ofleft-wingparties such as theBurma Workers Party,thePeople's Unity Partyled byThein Pe Myintand thePeople's Peace Front,as well asright-wingparties including theJustice Partyled byAye Maung,theNew Mon National Party.In the elections the alliance received 30.4% of the vote, winning 47 seats.Until 1958 it served as the major opposition bloc in theChamber of Deputies,but when the rulingAnti-Fascist People's Freedom Leaguesplit into two factions (theClean AFPFLand theStable AFPFL) the NUF supported the Clean AFPFL faction led byU Nuin forming a government, although Nu only allowedconservativeNUF members to become cabinet ministers.

By the1960 electionsmost of the conservative factions of the alliance had left to affiliate with the Clean AFPFL. Although the alliance put forward 135 candidates, it was reduced to just three seats, possibly due to its opposition to the establishment ofBuddhismas thestate religion.Following the1962 coup,the NUF leadership joined theBurma Socialist Programme Party.