BURMA: A New U Nu

On the eve of his triumphal comeback for a fourth term as Burma’s Premier, roly-poly U Nu put on the saffron robes of a Buddhist monk and retired into a monastery outside Rangoon for four days’ silent contemplation. Then, wrapped again in his traditional, pale blue longyi and looking uncommonly mellow for the rough old campaigner he is, U Nu stepped last week before a Parliament in which his Union Party had won a thumping two-thirds majority in last February’s elections, and proclaimed: “We are determined not to repeat the mistakes of the past.”

U Nu promised to maintain the administrative efficiency achieved by General Ne Win’s 17 months of army rule, and to emulate the democratic impartiality with which Ne Win presided over the elections. Last time. U Nu acknowledged, “we bit off more than we could chew. We propose not to embark on any new state enterprise, and, in particular, not to nationalize any existing industry now in private hands.” Topping off his speech, U Nu repeated his most cherished pledge—to make Buddhism Burma’s state religion.