HC Deb 21 October 1946 vol 427 cc297-8W
111. Mr. Wyatt

asked the Undersecretary of State for Burma whether he will make a statement on the recent formation of the new Executive Council.

Mr. A. Henderson

Before his departure from England towards the end of August, His Majesty's Government made clear to Sir Hubert Rance their readiness to see the Executive Council in Burma reconstituted on a broader and more representative basis. On 26th September the Governor announced that he had been able to re-form the Executive Council on a basis representative of the political parties and that it was his firm intention to see that it enjoyed in practice all the authority and power exercised by the Ministries in Burma between 1937 and 1942. U Aung San, the President of the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League, is Deputy Chairman of the new Executive Council and has also become the Governor's Counsellor in charge of Defence and External Affairs. His Majesty's Government regard these developments with great satisfaction.