Burma Socialist Programme Party - One-party State

One-party State

On March 23, 1964, the RC issued a decree entitled 'The Law Protecting National Unity' whereby all political parties except the BSPP were abolished and their assets appropriated. This was repealed on the day the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) seized power in the military coup of September 18, 1988.

The now-defunct 1974 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma constitutionalised the BSPP’s leading role in Burmese politics. Article 11 of the 1974 Constitution stated that 'The State shall adopt a single party system. The Burma Socialist Programme Party is the single political party and it shall lead the State'. This provision merely formalised what was already a fait accompli - a one-party state- since March 1964.

All government servants from all sectors including doctors, teachers, engineers, scientists, managers from the nationalised industries and businesses as well as civil administrators were compelled to undergo a three-month political indoctrination and basic military training at Hpaunggyi Central People's Services Training School, accommodated in military barracks, starting from the early 1970s. Everything was done in the name of 'the people', and everything had 'people' in its name from People's Shops to People's Parliament, with all the problems of the totalitarian state and none of the benefits seen in the Soviet bloc or China. The phrase hsoshalit athi (socialist consciousness) became a pun for Socialist friend or connection that one must have in order to get anything or anywhere. The Military Intelligence Service (MIS) and its army of informers served the function of the secret police to sniff out and extinguish any political dissent.