The Patriot's Party ( my, မျိုးချစ်ပါတီ; also known as the Myochit) was a nationalist political party in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

led by

U Saw U Saw, also known as Galon U Saw ( my-Mymr, ဦးစော or my-Mymr, ဂဠုန်ဦးစော, lit. Garuda U Saw, ; 16 March 1900 – 8 May 1948), was a leading Burmese politician who served as Prime Minister of British Burma dur ...

History

The party was formed in 1938 by U Saw after he left the

United GCBA The United GCBA, also known as the Ngawbinwsaing ( Burmese for "Five Flowers Alliance"), was a political party in Burma led by U Ba Pe. History The party was formed in 1936 as a successor to the People's Party, and gained its name "Five Flower ...

, and initially consisted of a group of around ten MPs fropm wealthy backgrounds.Haruhiro Fukui (1985) ''Political parties of Asia and the Pacific'', Greenwood Press, p139 The party gained support from businessmen and landlords, and in April 1938 the Galon Tat, the party's

paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

volunteer corps, was created. The Galon Tat was modelled on fascist organisations in Europe and possibly funded by the Japanese, and by 1941 was the largest volunteer organisation in the country. When the government led by

Ba Maw Ba Maw ( my, ဘမော်, ; 8 February 1893 – 29 May 1977) was a Burmese lawyer and political leader, active during the interwar and World War II periods. Dr. Ba Maw is a descendant of the Mon Dynasty. He was the first Burma Premier ...

fell in 1939,

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Archibald Cochrane included the Patriot's Party in the government, and in 1940 Saw was appointed Premier. However, he was arrested in January 1942 for having contact with the Japanese, who had started an invasion of the country. Following the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

, the party was re-established by some of its members whilst U Saw was imprisoned in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

. It joined the

Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League The Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL), ; abbreviated , ''hpa hsa pa la'' was the dominant political alliance in Burma from 1945 to 1958. It consisted of political parties and mass and class organizations. The league evolved out of t ...

, but was ejected after it accepted three seats in the Executive Council, a move that was contrary to the alliance's policy. However, U Saw demanded the party's members leave the Council. The party subsequently boycotted the 1947 elections.The Ghost of Elections Past
The Irrawaddy, 3 June 2010 When he was hanged in 1948 for his role in the assassination of

Aung San Aung San (, ; 13 February 191519 July 1947) was a Burmese politician, independence activist and revolutionary. He was instrumental in Myanmar's struggle for independence from British rule, but he was assassinated just six months before his go ...

, the party ceased to exist.

Policies

The party sought to limit Indian immigration to Burma and redistribute foreign-owned land. Other objectives included increasing the proportion of Burmese in the civil service and foreign trade and mining companies.

References

{{Burmese political parties Defunct political parties in Myanmar Political parties established in 1938 1938 establishments in Burma Political parties disestablished in 1948 1948 disestablishments in Burma